Information notification method, information notification system, and server device

ABSTRACT

An information notification method for providing information from a server device to a plurality of devices connected to a network, including: reading notification information stored in association with information indicating a particular action of a user; acquiring operation histories of the plurality of devices; estimating, based on operation histories of one or more devices owned by the user among the plurality of devices, a no-operation period during which the user is unlikely to operate the one or more devices; determining, based on current operation state of the one or more devices, whether the particular action has been performed outside the no-operation period; and transmitting, when outcome of the determining is affirmative, the notification information associated with the particular action to a destination device among the one or more devices owned by the user. The destination device provides the user with the notification information.

This application claims benefit to the provisional U.S. application No.61/707,279 filed on Sep. 28, 2012 and No. 61/720,751 filed on Oct. 31,2012.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to technology of providing devicesconnected to a network with information from an external server, and inparticular to technology of determining the timing of providing theinformation and determining the destination devices to which theinformation is to be provided.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, networked home appliances (hereinafter simply referredto as “appliances”) have become common, which have the function ofcommunicating with an external server via a communication network suchas the Internet or a mobile telephone network. This function is used by,for example, an advertisement distribution system that transmitsinformation such as an advertisement from an external server to suchappliances (e.g. Patent Literature 1). An advertisement distributionserver in the advertisement distribution system distributes anadvertisement to a plurality of appliances simultaneously, according toconditions determined by an advertiser in advance, such as the startingtime and the period of distribution, and the destinations of theadvertisement.

In this advertisement distribution system, however, it is not consideredwhether the users of the appliances at the destinations of theadvertisement are in the vicinity of their respective appliances at thetime of actual distribution of the advertisement. If the users are notin the vicinity of the appliances at the time of distribution of theadvertisement and cannot recognize the advertisement, it can hardly besaid that the advertisement distribution is effective. In view of thisproblem, Patent Literature 2 discloses technology of delivering anadvertisement to an appliance at the time the user operates theappliance, aiming to achieve more effective distribution ofadvertisements.

CITATION LIST Patent Literature

-   [Patent Literature 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No.    2004-240915-   [Patent Literature 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No.    2009-258975

SUMMARY OF INVENTION Technical Problem

Here, the timing of operating an appliance depends on the user, and itis therefore not always possible for the advertiser to distribute anadvertisement to the user within a particular period as desired by theadvertiser. For this reason, when distributing, for example, anadvertisement of special offers available for a limited time, theadvertiser needs to predict the behaviors of the users to determine thetiming of distributing the advertisement. However, due to diversity inlifestyle of users in recent years, it is difficult to take thelifestyle of every individual user into consideration to determine theconditions for advertisement distribution such as the timing ofdistribution. Furthermore, appliances that can be provided with anadvertisement are limited to those having been actually operated, and ifany appliances that have been operated are not equipped to present anadvertisement provided by the advertiser to the users, the advertisercannot effectively communicate the information to the users.

The present invention is made in view of such problems, and aims toprovide an information notification method that allows for effectivenotification of information such as advertisements to users bydetermining the timing of distribution in a preferable manner.

Solution to Problem

To solve the above-described problem, one aspect of the presentinvention provides an information notification method for providinginformation from a server device to a plurality of devices connected toa network, comprising: a reading step of reading notificationinformation that is stored in association with information indicating aparticular action of a user; an acquiring step of acquiring operationhistories of the plurality of devices; an estimating step of estimating,based on operation histories of one or more devices owned by the useramong the plurality of devices, a no-operation period during which theuser is unlikely to operate the one or more devices; a determining stepof determining, based on current operation state of the one or moredevices, whether the particular action has been performed outside theno-operation period; and a transmitting step of, when outcome of thedetermining step is affirmative, transmitting the notificationinformation associated with the particular action to a destinationdevice among the one or more devices owned by the user, wherein thedestination device, receiving the notification information, provides theuser with the notification information.

Effects of Invention

With the information notification method pertaining to the presentinvention, information to be transmitted is set with respect to each ofseveral particular actions, and the information is transmitted timely bydetermining whether any of the particular actions have been performed bythe user, based on the operation histories of the devices. Therefore,the information notification method can effectively provide the userwith information such as advertisements.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of aninformation notification system 1 pertaining to Embodiment 1.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating primary components ofa server device 10.

FIG. 3 illustrates a data structure and example contents of a serviceinformation table 1000.

FIG. 4 illustrates a data structure and example contents of settinginformation 900 set by an information provider.

FIG. 5 illustrates a data structure and example contents of an eventcondition information table 2000.

FIG. 6 illustrates a data structure and example contents of anotification information table 1100.

FIG. 7 illustrates a data structure and example contents of anotification condition information table 1500.

FIG. 8 illustrates a data structure and example contents of an applianceinformation table 1300.

FIG. 9 illustrates a data structure and example contents of a userinformation table 1200.

FIG. 10 illustrates a data structure and example contents of anoperation history information table 1400.

FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram illustrating primary components ofan appliance 1002.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example user interface (UI) used by aninformation provider when setting conditions for providing information.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for a notification process performed by a serverdevice 10.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for a notification process based on execution ofa function.

FIG. 15 is a flowchart for a notification process based on operationhistories.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart for a notification process based on a contextsearch.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart for a notification process based on specifiedtiming.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart for a notification process based on useroperation histories.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating periods during which an appliancerelating to notification conditions was operating and periods duringwhich the appliance was not operating.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart for selection of notification-target appliances.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart for registration of a substitutenotification-target appliance.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart for providing notification information to amonitoring-target appliance.

FIG. 23 is a functional block diagram illustrating primary components ofan appliance 1003.

FIG. 24 is an example of a feedback from a user.

FIG. 25 is a functional block diagram illustrating primary components ofa server device 11.

FIG. 26 illustrates a data structure and example contents of anotification information table 1101.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart for a notification process based on favoritessetting.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart for a reminding process A.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart for a reminding process B.

FIG. 30 is a modified example of a feedback from a user.

FIG. 31 is a functional block diagram illustrating primary components ofan appliance 1004.

FIG. 32 is a functional block diagram illustrating primary components ofan appliance 1005.

FIG. 33 is a functional block diagram illustrating primary components ofa server device 12.

FIG. 34 illustrates a data structure and example contents of anotification information table 1102.

FIG. 35 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a service allowing forpurchase of consumable goods.

FIG. 36 is flowchart for operations performed by the server device 12 atshortage of consumable goods.

FIG. 37 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a modified example of aservice allowing for purchase of consumable goods.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 1. Embodiment 1

<1.1 Overview>

The following explains an information notification system 1 as anembodiment utilizing an information notification method pertaining tothe present invention, with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example structure of theinformation notification system 1 pertaining to the present embodiment.

The information notification system 1 includes a server device 10, aninformation provider server 30, appliances A through F and GW 1001,which are connected to a network 20.

Each appliance is directly or indirectly connected to the network 20. Inthe example shown in FIG. 1, the appliances A through C are installedwithin a house 500, and are connected to the network 20 via the GW 1001.The appliances D and E are installed within a house 600, and are eachconnected to the network 20 directly. The appliances F and G areinstalled within a house 700. The appliance G is connected to theappliance F, and thus the appliance G is connected to the network 20 viathe appliance F. In this way, the appliances may be connected to thenetwork in any manners.

An information provider, such as an advertiser, enters settinginformation according to a particular format into the server device 10by using the information provider server 30. The details of the formatare described below. In the setting information, items to be distributedare associated with particular actions of a user, which are representedin an abstract manner, such as “Awakening”, “Going out of home”,“Cooking”, and “Going to bed”.

Each of the appliances A through G sequentially transmits informationshowing operations of the appliance to the server device 10, and theserver device 10 records operation histories of the appliance for eachuser based on the received information showing operations of theappliance.

The server device 10, when determining that a particular action isperformed by a user, transmits information to the appliance owned by theuser. The determination as to whether the particular action is performedis made based on the operation histories that have been sequentiallyrecorded. Specifically, the server device 10 refers to the operationhistories, and estimates the period during which the user is likely toperform the particular action according to the operation histories inthe past. When the user operation is performed within the estimatedperiod with respect to the appliance pertaining to the particularaction, the server device 10 transmits corresponding information to,among the appliances owned by the user, the appliance that satisfiesconditions.

As described above, the information notification system 1 pertaining tothe present embodiment is capable of timely selecting, from among theappliances owned by a user, an appliance that is suitable for beingprovided with notification information at the time point, and oftransmitting the notification information to the selected appliance,without being provided by the information provider with the timing ofthe notification or detailed conditions about the appliance to which thenotification information is to be transmitted.

<1.2 Configuration>

<1.2.1 Server Device 10>

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram illustrating primary components ofthe server device 10.

The server device 10 includes a control unit 101, a storage unit 102, anacquisition unit 103, a target user determination unit 104, a settingunit 105, a determination unit 106, a selection unit 107, acommunication unit 108, a service database (DB) 121, a notificationinformation DB 122, an appliance information DB 123, a user informationDB 124, and operation history DB 125. In the following, the service DB121, the notification information DB 122, the appliance information DB123, the user information DB 124 and the operation history DB 125 may becollectively referred to as “DB” for simplification of explanation.

The following explains the components of the server device 10 one byone.

(Control Unit 101, Storage Unit 102)

The control unit 101 includes a central processing unit (CPU) forexample, and the CPU executes programs stored in the storage unit 102,thereby causing the server device 10 to perform the following fivefunctions.

Appliance operation history acquiring function: The function ofcontrolling the acquisition unit 103 to acquire operation informationthat shows operations of the appliances A through G, and writing theoperation histories in the form of an operation history informationtable 1400 into the operation history DB 125.

User determination function: The function of controlling the target userdetermination unit 104 to determine the user who owns the appliance tobe provided with the information shown in Notification contents 1170 setby the information provider using the information provider server 30.

Transmission condition setting function: The function of controlling thesetting unit 105 to set the timing of providing the information shown inNotification contents 1170 and the conditions of the target appliancesby using the operation history information table 1400 stored in theoperation history DB 125 and the notification information table 1100stored in the notification information DB 122.

Transmission determination function: The function of controlling thedetermination unit 106 to determine whether to transmit informationshown in Notification contents 1170 to the appliance owned by the userdetermined by the target user determination unit 104, based on theoperation history information table 1400 stored in the operation historyDB 125.

Appliance selection function: The function of controlling the selectionunit 107, when the determination unit 106 determines to transmit theinformation specified in Notification contents 1170, to select, fromamong the appliances owned by the user determined by the target userdetermination unit 104, the appliance to which the information specifiedin Notification contents 1170 is to be transmitted, based on theconditions set by the setting unit 105.

The storage unit 102 includes, for example, a random access memory(RAM), a read only memory (ROM) and a flash memory, and stores thereinprograms that determine the operations of the control unit 101 and datathat has been retrieved from the DB and is to be used by the controlunit 101.

(Acquisition Unit 103)

The acquisition unit 103 is under the control of the control unit 101,and has the function of receiving setting information 900 from theinformation provider server 30 via the communication unit 108, andwriting the received setting information in the form of the notificationinformation table 1100 into the notification information DB 122. Thedetails of the setting information 900 will be described later.

The acquisition unit 103 also has the function of receiving informationshowing operations of the appliances A through G via the communicationunit 108, and sequentially writing the information thus received in theform of the operation history information table 1400 into the operationhistory DB. The details of the operation history information table 1400will be described later.

(Target User Determination Unit 104)

The target user determination unit 104 is under the control of thecontrol unit 101, and has the function of determining the target user towhich the information specified in Notification contents 1170 is to betransmitted, based on the notification information table 1100 in thenotification information DB 122 and a user information table 1200 in theuser information DB 124. The details of the user information table 1200will be described later.

Based on the history information of the appliances owned by the userdetermined by the target user determination unit 104, the determinationunit 106, which will be described later, determines the timing oftransmitting the information specified in Notification contents 1170,and the selection unit 107, which will be described later, selects theappliance to be provided with the notification.

(Setting Unit 105)

The setting unit 105 is under the control of the control unit 101, andhas the function of setting the conditions used for determining whetherthe particular action of the user has been performed or not, by usingthe operation history information table 1400, which will be describedlater, and the notification information table 1100. Note that theparticular action of the user is the action indicated by Notificationtiming 2001 contained in an event condition information table 2000,which will be described alter.

(Determination Unit 106)

The determination unit 106 is under the control of the control unit 101,and has the function of monitoring the operation information of theappliance sequentially acquired by the acquisition unit 103, todetermine whether the operation satisfying the conditions determined bythe setting unit 105 is performed or not, and transmitting theinformation specified in Notification contents 1170 to the applianceselected by the selection unit 107 when determining affirmatively.

(Selection Unit 107)

The selection unit 107 is under the control of the control unit 101, andhas the function of, when the determination unit 106 determinesaffirmatively, selecting the appliance to which the notificationinformation specified in Notification contents 1170 is to betransmitted, by using the operation history information table 1400stored in the operation history DB 125, according to the conditions setby the setting unit 105.

Note that the respective functions of the acquisition unit 103, thetarget user determination unit 104, the setting unit 105, thedetermination unit 106 and the selection 107 described above arerealized by the CPU executing programs stored in the storage unit 102.

(Communication Unit 108)

The communication unit 108 is, for example, a communication interfacefor connecting to the network 20. The communication unit 108 is underthe control of the control unit 101, and has the function of receivingsetting information from the information provider server 30 andinformation related to operations of the appliances A through G from therespective appliances. The communication unit 108 also has the functionof transmitting information stored in the notification information DB tothe appliances A through G.

(Service DB 121)

The service DB 121 is a database storing a service information table1000.

FIG. 3 illustrates a data structure and example contents of the serviceinformation table 1000.

As shown in the figure, the service information table 1000 containsService ID 1010, Service name 1020 and Reference DB 1030 associated witheach other.

Service ID 1010 shows an ID for identifying a service to be provided.

Service name 1020 shows the type of the service to be provided.

Reference DB 1030 specifies the DB in which the information used for thecorresponding service is stored.

For example, the service identified by Service ID 1010 indicating“S0001” is an advertisement distribution service, and the DBs to bereferred to in this case are the DBs for the advertisement distributionservice. Note that the DBs for the advertisement distribution serviceinclude the operation history DB 125, the user information DB 124, theappliance information DB 123 and the notification information DB 122 forthe advertisement distribution service.

(Notification Information DB 122)

The notification information DB 122 contains the notificationinformation table 1100 for realizing centralized management of thesetting information 900 received from the information provider server 30of each information provider, and a notification condition informationtable 1500 showing a condition for notification at each timing ofnotification.

FIG. 4 illustrates a data structure and example contents of the settinginformation 900 set by the information provider using the informationprovider server 30.

As shown in the figure, the setting information 900 contains Name 910,Notification target 920 and Notification conditions 930 associated witheach other.

Name 910 is an item specifying the name identifying the informationprovider. In the example shown in FIG. 4, Name 910 shows “AAA cookingclass” as the name identifying the information provider.

Notification target 920 is an item setting the conditions for selectingthe notification-target user or the appliance owned by the user.Notification target 920 contains Area 921, Appliance type 922, Usageperiod 923 and Usage rate 924 as items.

Area 921 is an item specifying the location or the range where the usersand the notification-target appliances exist. In the example shown inFIG. 4, the users living in ABC city and the appliances existing in ABCcity are the notification-target appliances.

Appliance type 922 is an item specifying the type of thenotification-target appliances. In the example shown in FIG. 4, anautomatic bread baker is specified as the type of thenotification-target appliances.

Usage period 923 is an item specifying conditions related to the usageperiod of the appliance specified in Appliance type 922. In the exampleshown in FIG. 4, appliances that have been used for no longer than oneyear are specified as the notification-target appliances.

Usage rate 924 is an item specifying the conditions related to the usagerate within a fixed period of the appliance specified by Appliance type922. In the example shown in FIG. 4, appliances with a usage ratesmaller than 10% are specified as the notification-target appliances.The usage rate indicates the rate (percentage) of the number of timesthe appliance has been actually used, relative to a predetermined numberof times. For example, if the usage rate when an appliance has been usedtwenty times during 10 days is 100%, the usage rate when the appliancehas been used once during 10 days is 5%. The usage rate of eachappliance is obtained by referring to the operation history informationtable 1400.

The notification conditions 930 is an item specifying conditions relatedto the timing of notification to the appliance and the contents of thenotification. The item Notification conditions 930 contains, forexample, Notification timing 931 and Notification contents 932.

Notification timing 931 is an item specifying the notification timingindicated by the event condition information table 2000 shown in FIG. 5.The notification information specified in Notification contents 932 istransmitted to the appliance selected by the selection unit 107 when theoperation of the appliance based on the operation history informationtable 1400 satisfies the notification timing specified in this item. Inthe example shown in FIG. 4, the notification information specified inNotification contents 932 is transmitted when the notification timingsatisfies the conditions “Awakening”, “Cooking” and“[keyword]=(Poketan)”.

Notification contents 932 is an item specifying the notificationinformation to be transmitted to the appliances. In the example shown inFIG. 4, it is specified in Notification contents 932 that theinformation to be notified is the page located at http://example.com.

FIG. 5 illustrates a data structure and example contents of the eventcondition information table 2000.

The event condition information table 2000 contains Notification timing2001. Notification timing 2001 is an item specifying the event nameidentifying the trigger of the notification. In the example shown inFIG. 5, the event names identifying the trigger of the notificationinclude, for example, “Awakening” 2002, “Cooking”, “Doing laundry”,“Going out of home”, “Coming home”, “Bathing”, “[Keyword]=(Characterstring of keyword)”, [Specified timing] 2003, and“[Appliance]=(Appliance type) 2004. Among these, “Awakening”, “Cooking”,“Doing laundry”, “Going out of home”, “Coming home” and “Bathing” areexamples of the event names specifying a particular action of the user.The value indicated by each item is specified in Notification timing 931of the setting information 900. For example, when the informationprovider wishes to set the setting information 900 so as to notify theuser when the user wakes up, the information provider specifies“Awakening” in Notification timing 931.

[Specified timing] 2003 is specified when the information providerwishes to input a transmission instruction directly to the server device10 instead of setting the timing of the notification in advance. WhenNotification timing 931 is filled with “[Specified timing]”, thenotification information specified in Notification contents 1170 istransmitted to the appliance according to a transmission instructioninput by the information provider into the server device 10.“[Appliance]=(Appliance type) 2004” is specified when the notificationis to be made at the time the appliance specified by the appliance typeis operated.

FIG. 6 illustrates a data structure and example contents of thenotification information table 1100 stored in the notificationinformation DB 122.

The notification information table 1100 is used for realizingcentralized management of the setting information 900 set by eachinformation provider. The notification information table 1100 containsName 1110, Area 1120, Appliance type 1130, Usage period 1140, Usage rate1150, Notification timing 1160, and Notification contents 1170, whichrespectively correspond to Name 910, Area 921, Appliance type 922, Usageperiod 923, Usage rate 924, Notification timing 931 and Notificationcontents 932 in the setting information 900.

In the example shown in FIG. 6, the setting information set by AAAcooking class and setting information set by BBB supermarket are managedin a centralized manner. Area 1120 of BBB supermarket shows that thenotification area is a radius of about 1000 m around the point atlatitude of 36.62567 degrees north and longitude of 135.63238 degreeseast. The value “0” shown in Appliance type 1130, Usage period 1140 andUsage rate 1150 shows that no condition is set in these items. “Light”shown in Notification contents 1170 indicates that the notification isperformed by using, for example, blinking of an indicator such as an LEDof the appliance. In addition, when “Sound” is specified, thenotification is performed by using a sound such as a voice.

FIG. 7 illustrates a data structure and example contents of thenotification condition information table 1500 which shows, for example,conditions for notification for each timing of notification.

The notification condition information table 1500 contains Notificationtiming 1510, Event type 1520, Notification condition 1530 and Targetappliance 1540 associated with each other.

Notification timing 1510 is an item specifying one of the particularactions specified in Notification timing 2001.

Event type 1520 is an item specifying the event type that triggers thedetection of the particular action specified in Notification timing1510. Examples of the event type include “Execution of function”,“Operation histories”, “Context search” and “Specified timing”. Thedetails of these event types will be described later.

Notification condition 1530 is an item specifying the condition relatedto operations of the appliance. Referring to the operation historyinformation table 1400, the determination unit 106 determines whetherthe operation of the appliance satisfying the notification conditionspecified in this item has been performed or not. In the example shownin FIG. 7, when Notification timing 1510 is “Awakening” and Event type1520 is “Execution of function”, Notification condition 1530 is“Appliance having an alarm function executes the function”. In thiscase, every time the acquisition unit 103 acquires the operationinformation from the appliance and adds the information to the operationhistory information table 1400, the determination unit 106 determineswhether or not the operation information thus added indicates that anappliance having an alarm function has executed the function byreferring to the operation history information table 1400.

Target appliance 1540 is an item specifying a condition for selectingthe target appliance to which the notification information specified inNotification contents 1170 is to be transmitted. For example, whenTarget appliance 1540 specifies “Appliance in operation”, the appliancesthat are operating at the time the determination unit 106 determinesthat the notification condition is satisfied are the target appliancesto which the notification information is to be transmitted.

As described above, when specifying the condition about the timing ofnotification, the information provider only needs to specify informationindicating the particular actions, and does not need to specify thedetails of the appliances, the details of the operations, or when theoperations are performed by the appliances.

The server device 10 refers to the notification condition informationtable 1500, and determines the conditions related to the appliances,used for determining whether the action specified in Notification timing2001 has been performed. Whether the operation satisfying the conditionhas been performed or not is determined by referring to the operationhistory information table 1400.

(Appliance Information DB 123)

The appliance information DB 123 is a DB storing an applianceinformation table 1300 for managing information of various types ofappliances having the function of connecting to the network.

FIG. 8 illustrates a data structure and example contents of theappliance information table 1300.

The appliance information table 1300 contains Appliance ID 1310,Appliance type 1320, Category 1330, Notification method 1340 and Context1350 associated with each other.

Appliance ID 1310 is an item specifying a unique ID given to theappliance.

Appliance type 1320 is an item specifying the type of the appliance. Inthe example shown in FIG. 8, examples of the type of appliance include“TV”, “Refrigerator”, “Automatic bread baker”, “Lighting device” and“Smartphone”. Appliance type 1320 is used for determination as towhether it matches the value specified in “(Appliance type)” in“[Appliance]=(Appliance type)” 2004 shown in FIG. 5.

Category 1330 is an item specifying the category of the applianceindicated by Appliance ID 1310. The category is used for grouping theappliances according to their purposes. For example, appliances forcooking are categorized in “Cooking”, appliances related to AV arecategorized in “AV” and appliances related to lighting are categorizedin “Lighting”. Category 1330 is used for determining whether thecondition specified in Target appliance 1540 in the notificationcondition information table 1500 is satisfied or not, for example.

Notification method 1340 is an item specifying the method that issupported by the appliance identified by Appliance ID 1310 and can beused by the appliance when providing the user with the notification.Notification method 1340 contains items Browser 1341, Text 1342, Light1343 and Sound 1344.

When “Ver. 1”, “Ver. 2” or the like is specified in Browser 1341, itmeans that the appliance has a browser function, which is the functionof displaying the notification information written in hypertext markuplanguage (html). The difference between “Ver. 1” and “Ver. 2”corresponds to the difference in display format. For example, “Ver. 1”represents a browser that can display texts and images but cannotdisplay movies, and “Ver. 2” represents a browser that can displaymovies.

When “OK” is specified in Text 1342, it means that the appliance candisplay the notification information represented as a text, and when“NG” is specified in Text 1342, it means that the appliance cannotdisplay the notification information represented as a text.

When “OK” is specified in Light 1343, it means that the appliancesupports notification by using light, and when “NG” is specified inLight 1343, it means that the appliance does not support notification byusing light. Notification by using light is, for example, turning on orblinking an indicator such as an LED of the appliance and therebydrawing attention of the user.

When “OK” is specified in Sound 1343, it means that the appliancesupports notification by using sound such as reproduction of a soundfile, and when “NG” is specified in Sound 1343, it means that theappliance does not support notification by using sound.

Context 1350 is an item specifying whether the appliance supports“Context search” shown in Event type 1520 of the notification conditioninformation table 1500. When “OK” is specified in Context 1350, it meansthat the appliance supports the context search, and when “NG” isspecified in Context 1350, it means that the appliance does not supportthe context search.

(User Information DB 124)

The user information DB 124 stores the user information table 1200 inwhich users and appliances owned by the users are associated with eachother.

FIG. 9 illustrates a data structure and example contents of the userinformation table 1200.

The user information table 1200 contains User ID 1210, User name 1220,Postal code 1230, Address 1240, Appliance ID 1250, Registration date1260 and History ID 1270 associated with each other.

User ID 1210 is an item storing a user ID of each user.

User name 1220, Postal code 1230 and Address 1240 are respectively itemsspecifying the name, the postal code and the address of the user.

Postal code 1230 and Address 1240 are used for determination as towhether the user' location is within the area specified in Area 1120 ofthe notification information table 1100.

Appliance ID 1250 is an item specifying the IDs of the appliances ownedby each user indicated by User ID 1210.

Registration date 1260 is an item specifying the year, month and day ofthe registration of the appliance indicated by Appliance ID 1250.Registration date 1260 is used for determination as to whether thecondition specified in Usage period 1140 of the notification informationtable 1100 is satisfied or not, for example.

History ID 1270 is an item storing the ID of the operation historyinformation table 1400, which is recorded for each user. That is, whenreferring to the operation history information of the user identified byUser ID 1210, the operation history information that has the IDindicated by History ID 1270 is to be referred to from among a pluralityof sets of operation history information stored in the operation historyDB respectively corresponding to the users.

(Operation History DB 125)

The operation history DB stores the operation history information table1400 recorded for each user. The operation history information table1400 shows the operation information of the appliances sequentiallyacquired by the acquisition unit 103.

FIG. 10 illustrates a data structure and example contents of theoperation history information table 1400.

The operation history information table 1400 contains Appliance ID 1410,Date 1420, Time 1430, Type 1440, and Operation detail 1450.

Appliance ID 1410 is an item storing the ID of the appliance that wasoperated.

Date 1420 and Time 1430 are items storing the date represented inyear-month-day format and time when the appliance indicated by ApplianceID 1410 was operated.

Type 1440 is an item specifying the type of operation performed by theappliance. Examples of the type are “Operation” and “Notification”.“Operation” indicates that the operation is performed in response to aninstruction from the user, and “Notification” indicates that theoperation is performed for notifying the user with certain informationwithout an instruction from the user.

Operation detail 1450 is an item specifying the details of the operationof the appliance.

The acquisition unit 103 acquires operation information from anappliance when the appliance is operated or the appliance performs afunction, and the operation information thus acquired is sequentiallyadded to the operation history information table 1400 for each user.

<1.2.2 Appliance 1002>

The following explains appliances connected to the network.

Each of the appliances A through G shown in FIG. 1 is a home electricalappliance or a piece of equipment having the function of connecting to anetwork such as the Internet. Specifically, examples of these appliancesinclude air conditioners, refrigerators, microwave ovens, automaticbread bakers, toasters, remote controls for water heaters, laundrymachines, clothes dryers, dish washing/drying machines, vacuum cleaners,gas stoves, IH appliances, rice cookers, electric toilet seats with hotwater spray feature for washing, electronic locks, intercoms, lightingdevices, air purifiers, humidifiers, security sensors (motion detectors,crime prevention sensors), home servers, washstands, electricaltoothbrush, hair dryers, beauty appliances, health appliances such asrobotic massage chairs, physical activity monitors and body compositionanalyzers, personal computers, tablet terminals, information devicessuch as smartphones, mobile phones, facsimile machines, game machines,TVs, recorders, audio devices, and remote controls thereof.

The following explains an appliance 1002 as a representative of theappliances A through G, instead of explaining each of the appliancesseparately.

The appliance 1002 is connected to a gateway (GW) 1001 which will bedescribed later, and communicates with the external server device 10 viathe GW 1001. Note that the appliance 1002 may connect directly to thenetwork 20 and communicate with the external server device 10 withoutconnecting the GW 1001.

FIG. 11 is a functional block diagram illustrating primary components ofthe appliance 1002.

The appliance 1002 includes a control unit 1011, a storage unit 1012, anevent detection unit 1013, a notification unit 1014, a communicationunit 1015, an appliance control unit 1016 and a main component 1017.

(Control Unit 1011, Storage Unit 1012)

The control unit 1011 includes a CPU for example, and the CPU executesprograms stored in the storage unit 1012, thereby causing the appliance1002 to perform the following three functions.

Event detection function: The function of controlling the eventdetection unit 1013 to detect the instruction input by the user to theappliance, or detect the function performed by the appliance.

Communication control function: The function of controlling thecommunication unit 1015 to transmit the operation information input bythe event detection unit 1013 to the server device 10 or receive thenotification information from the server device 10.

Notification function: The function of controlling the notification unit1014 to deliver the notification information received from the serverdevice 10.

The storage unit 1012 includes, for example, a RAM, a ROM and a flashmemory, and stores therein programs that determine the operations of thecontrol unit 1011.

(Event Detection Unit 1013)

The event detection unit 1013 is under the control of the control unit1011, and has the function of detecting operational instructions inputby the user to the main component 1017 of the appliance, and detectingexecution of the functions of the main component 1017. The eventdetection unit 1013 also has the function of outputting operationinformation relating to detected instructions or operations to thecontrol unit 1011.

The functions of the event detection unit 1013 are realized by the CPUof the server device 10 executing the programs stored in the storageunit 1012.

(Notification Unit 1014)

The notification unit 1014 includes an output device for providing theuser with notification information. The notification unit 1014 has thefunction of notifying the user of the notification information byoutputting the notification information received from the server device10 to the output device. Examples of the output device include, displaydevices such as monitor displays, speakers, indicators usinglight-emitting devices such as LEDs. The notification unit 1014 of theappliance has one or more of these output devices, depending on the typeof the appliance. For example, when the appliance is a TV, the appliancehas a display, a speaker and an indicator. When the appliance is anautomatic bread baker, the appliance has a speaker and an indicator, butdoes not have a display. The method to be specified in Notificationmethod 1340 of the appliance information table 1300 depends on the typeof the output device included in the notification unit.

The functions of the notification unit 1014 are realized by the CPU ofthe server device 10 executing the programs stored in the storage unit1012.

(Communication Unit 1015)

The communication unit 1015 includes a large scale integration (LSI) forcommunications, and is under the control of the control unit 1011. TheLSI for communications has the function of exchanging data with anexternal server by using the Internet according to, for example, theTCP/IP protocols or the http protocols. The communication unit 1015 hasthe function of transmitting the operation information of the appliance,acquired from the appliance control unit 1016 by the event detectionunit 1013, to the server device 10. The communication unit 1015 also hasthe function of receiving the notification information from the serverdevice 10 and outputting the notification information thus received tothe control unit 1011.

The functions of the communication unit 1015 are realized by the CPU ofthe server device 10 executing the programs stored in the storage unit1012.

(Appliance Control Unit 1016, Main Component 1017)

The appliance control unit 1016 has the function of controlling the maincomponent 1017 to achieve the functions thereof. The appliance controlunit 1016 also has the function of outputting, to the event detectionunit 1013, the operation information at the time of the control forachieving the functions of the appliance as well as the operationinformation received from the appliance.

The functions of the appliance control unit 1016 are realized by the CPUof the server device 10 executing the programs stored in the storageunit 1012.

The primary element of the main component 1017 is the main hardware1018.

The main hardware 1018 is connected to and controlled by the appliancecontrol unit 1016. Under the control of the appliance control unit 1016,the main hardware 1018 enables the appliance 1002 as an electronicdevice to achieve the functions of the electronic device. For example,when the appliance 1002 is an air conditioner, the main hardware 1018 iscomposed of a compressor, a heat exchanger, a fan, and so on, whichachieves the functions of the air conditioner.

(GW1001)

The GW 1001 is, for example, a router device, and has the function oftransmitting, to the server device 10, information of operations of theappliance located within the house and connected to the GW 1001 via thenetwork 20. The GW 1001 also has the function of receiving thenotification information from the server device 10 and outputting thenotification information to the appliance located within the house.

<1.3 Operations>

First, the following explains a procedure by which the informationprovider using the information provider server 30 registers the settinginformation 900, which is related to the information to be provided,into the notification information table 1100 in the notificationinformation DB 122 in the server device 10.

FIG. 12 illustrates an example user interface (UI) used by theinformation provider when setting the setting information 900 to theserver device 10 by using the information provider server 30.

The information provider registers the setting information 900 byoperation from an information registration menu 200 shown in thedrawing. The setting information 900 is registered into the notificationinformation DB 122 provided for each of the services shown in theservice information table 1000.

The service name selection field 201 shows the names of the servicesspecified in the service information table 1000. The informationprovider selects one from among the services. The drawing shows anexample case the advertisement distribution service is selected.Subsequently, the information provider selects a setting informationfile defining the settings to be applied to the selected service.Specifically, the information provider inputs the file name of the datafile containing the setting information 900 into the field 202 forspecifying the setting information file and presses the upload button203. In response to this operation, the setting information 900specified by the file name is transmitted to the server device 10, andis written into the notification information table 1100 in thenotification information DB 122. When the information provider clicks onthe “here” link 204, the format of the setting information 900 shown inFIG. 4 appears.

The following explains the operations of the information notificationsystem 1 on the assumption that the notification information table 1100in the server device 10 stores the setting information 900 transmittedby each of a plurality of information provider according to theabove-described procedure.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart for a notification process performed by theserver device 10.

First, the setting unit 105 of the server device 10 refers to thenotification information table 1100 stored in the notificationinformation DB 122, and retrieves information from Notification timing1160 with respect to each of the information provider identified by Name1110 (Step S10).

Next, the setting unit 105 refers to the notification conditioninformation table 1500, and retrieves information specified inNotification Condition 1530 with respect to each of the notificationtimings specified in Notification timing 1160, and determines theinformation as the notification condition (Step S11).

Subsequently, the target user determination unit 104 reads out theinformation specified in Area 1120 through Usage rate 1150, andspecifies a user satisfying the conditions specified in Area 1120through Usage rate 1150 (Step S12). Specifically, the target userdetermination unit 104 refers to the user information table 1200 of theuser information DB 124, and when any condition is specified in Area1120 for example, determines whether the user is located within the areasatisfying the condition specified in Area 1120 according to the Postalcode 1230 and Address 1240 in the user information table 1200. When anycondition is specified in Appliance type 1130, the target userdetermination unit 104 refers to the Appliance ID 1250, and determineswhether any appliance satisfying the condition is registered. When anycondition is specified in Usage period 1140, the target userdetermination unit 104 refers to Registration date 1260, and determineswhether the condition specified in Usage period 1140 is satisfied bycomparing the registration date with the current date. When anycondition is specified in Usage rate 1150, the target user determinationunit 104 refers to the operation history information table 1400 in theoperation history DB 125, obtains the usage rate of the correspondingappliance, and determines whether the usage rate thus obtained satisfiesthe condition specified in Usage rate 1150. The target userdetermination unit 104 determines the user satisfying all the conditionsto be the user to be provided with the notification.

Subsequently, the determination unit 106 determines whether theabove-described steps have been performed as to every registered user(Step S13). When the above-described steps have been completed as toevery registered user (Step S13: YES), the notification process isterminated.

When the above-described steps have not been completed as to everyregistered user (Step S13: NO), the notification process continues.

The determination unit 106 refers to Event type 1520 of the notificationcondition information table 1500 according to the notification conditionthat has been set by the setting unit 105, and specifies the event type(Step S14). The determination unit 106 performs different kinds ofnotification depending on the event type.

When the event type is “Execution of function” (Step S14: Eventtype=Execution of function), the determination unit 106 performs anotification process based on the execution of a function (Step S15).

When the event type is “Operation histories” (Step S14: Eventtype=Operation histories), the determination unit 106 performs anotification process based on operation histories (Step S16).

When the event type is “Context search” (Step S14: Event type=Contextsearch), the determination unit 106 performs a notification processbased on a context search (Step S17).

When the event type is “Specified timing” (Step S14: Eventtype=Specified timing), the determination unit 106 performs anotification process based on a specified timing (Step S18).

The following explains the notification process based on execution of afunction, the notification process based on operation histories, thenotification process based on a context search and the notificationprocess based on a specified timing, one by one.

(Notification Process Based on Execution of Function)

FIG. 14 is a flowchart for a notification process based on execution ofa function.

The notification process based on the execution of a function isperformed when the event type specified in Event type 1520 of thenotification condition information table 1500 is “Execution offunction”.

The determination unit 106 specifies a function relating to thenotification condition specified in Notification condition 1530 of thenotification condition information table 1500 (Step S20). Note thatnotification conditions targeted at this stage are only those associatedwith the event type “Execution of function”. Subsequently, thedetermination unit 106 refers to the operation history information table1400 in the operation history DB 125, and determines whether any usagehistory is recorded with respect to the function relating to thenotification condition (Step S21).

When determining that the operation history information table 1400contains any usage history with respect to the function relating to thenotification condition (Step S21: YES), the determination unit 106monitors operation information of the appliance acquired by theacquisition unit 103, and every time new information is added to theoperation history information, determines whether the function relatingto the notification condition has been used (Step S22).

When the function relating to the notification condition is used (StepS22: YES), the selection unit 107 performs selection of thenotification-target appliances to be provided with the notificationinformation specified in Notification contents 1170 (Step S23). Theprocess of selecting the notification-target appliance will be describedlater.

In the case of NO in Step S22, Step S22 will be repeated until thefunction relating to the notification condition is used.

On completion of Step S23, the control unit 101 transmits thenotification information specified in Notification contents 1170 to theappliances selected in Step S23 via the communication unit 108 (StepS24). Each appliance having received the notification information fromthe server device 10 provides the users with the notificationinformation via the notification unit 1014.

Meanwhile, in the case of NO in Step S21, the notification process isterminated, and the steps from Step S13 in FIG. 13 are performed again.

(Notification Process Based on Operation Histories)

FIG. 15 is a flowchart for the notification process based on operationhistories.

The determination unit 106 specifies an appliance relating to thenotification condition specified in the Notification Condition 1530 ofthe notification condition information table 1500 (Step S31). Note thatthe notification conditions targeted at this stage are only thoseassociated with the event type “Operation histories”. The determinationunit 106 also determines the notification condition according toNotification Condition 1530 (Step S32).

Next, the setting unit 105 retrieves information specified inNotification Condition 1530, and determines the information as thenotification condition (Step S32).

The determination unit 106 determines whether the notification conditionthus determined relates to a no-operation period (Step S33).Specifically, when the information specified in Notification Condition1530 contains a character string “No-operation period”, thedetermination unit 106 determines that the notification conditionrelates to a no-operation period.

In the case of YES in Step S33, a notification process based onhistories relating to user operations will be performed (Step S38). Thenotification process based on histories relating to user operations willbe described later.

Meanwhile, in the case of NO in Step S33, the determination unit 106refers to the operation history information table 1400, specifies aperiod during which the appliance relating to the notification conditionwas operating, and predicts the regular operation period of theappliance (Step S34). Specifically, the determination unit 106 specifiesa predetermined number of days (e.g. 1 week) from the operationhistories of the appliance stored in the operation history informationtable 1400, and, for each day, specifies periods during which theappliance operated at least a predetermined number of times (e.g. once)per a predetermined time (e.g. 1 hour). The determination unit 106determines the specified periods as the operation periods of theappliance.

Subsequently, the determination unit 106 monitors the operationinformation of the appliance acquired by the acquisition unit 103, andevery time new information is added to the operation history informationtable 1400, determines whether the function relating to the notificationcondition has been executed (Step S35). When the appliance relating tothe notification condition has not been operated (Step S35: NO), thedetermination unit 106 continues the monitoring, and repeats Step S35.

Meanwhile, when the appliance relating to the notification condition hasbeen operated (Step S35: YES), the determination unit 106 determineswhether the time at which the appliance was operated is within thepredicted operation period of the appliance (Step S36). In the case ofNO in Step S36, the steps from Step S35 are performed again.

Meanwhile, in the case of YES in Step S36, the selection unit 107performs selection of the notification-target appliances (Step S36).

On completion of Step S36, the control unit 101 transmits thenotification information specified in Notification contents 1170 to theappliances selected in Step S36 via the communication unit 108 (StepS37). Each appliance having received the notification information fromthe server device 10 provides the users with the notificationinformation via the notification unit 1014.

(Notification Process Based on Context Search)

FIG. 16 is a flowchart for the notification process based on a contextsearch.

The setting unit 105 specifies an appliance having context information(Step S41). Specifically, the setting unit 105 specifies appliances ofthe user based on Appliance ID 1250 in the user information table 1200.Subsequently, from among the appliances thus specified, the setting unit105 further specifies an appliance for which “OK” is specified inContext 1350 in the appliance information table 1300, and determines itto be an appliance having context information.

Subsequently, the setting unit 105 retrieves a character string of akeyword from “[Keyword]=(Character string of keyword)” specified inNotification timing 1160 of the notification information table 1100, anddetermines the character string as the keyword to be searched for (StepS42). In the example shown in FIG. 6, “Poketan” is retrieved fromNotification timing corresponding to “AAA cooking class”, and determinesit as the keyword to be searched for. Note that Poketan is the name of aTV character.

Subsequently, the determination unit 106 refers to the operation historyinformation table 1400, and determines whether the operation historiesof the specified appliances contain any operation history relating tothe keyword (Step S43). For example, suppose the case where the keywordis “Poketan” and a TV having an appliance identifier “TV0001” has beenspecified. If this is the case, when the operation histories of the TVcontain an operation history showing that the user watched a TV programrelated to Poketan, the determination unit 106 determines that there isan operation history related to the keyword.

In the case of YES in Step S43, the selection unit 107 performsselection of the notification-target appliances (Step S44).

On completion of Step S44, the control unit 101 refers to thenotification information table 1100, retrieves the notificationinformation specified in Notification contents 1170 corresponding to thenotification condition, and determines the notification information thusretrieved as the notification information to be transmitted to thespecified target appliances (Step S45).

Subsequently, the control unit 101 determines the time to transmit thenotification information (Step S46). For example, when the operationhistory relating to the keyword is viewing of a TV program, the controlunit 101 determines the ending time of the TV program as the time totransmit the notification information.

The determination unit 106 determines whether the above-described stepshave been performed as to every specified appliance (Step S47). If theabove-described steps have not been performed as to every specifiedappliance (Step S47: NO), the steps from Step S42 are performed again.

Meanwhile, when the above-described steps have been performed as toevery specified appliance (Step S48: YES), the control unit 101determines whether the time to transmit the notification information,the time being set by the determination unit 106, has been reached (StepS48). When determining that the time to transmit the notificationinformation has not been reached (Step S48: NO), the control unit 101waits until the time. Meanwhile, when determining that the time totransmit has been reached (Step S48: YES), the control unit 101transmits the notification information specified in Step S45 to theappliances selected in Step S44 via the communication unit 108 (StepS49). Each appliance having received the notification information fromthe server device 10 provides the users with the notificationinformation via the notification unit 1014.

(Notification Process Based on Specified Timing)

FIG. 17 is a flowchart for notification process based on specifiedtiming.

The information provider accesses the server device 10 and specifies thetiming of providing information.

The information provider inputs an instruction specifying the timing tothe server device 10 by, for example, calling a web applicationprogramming interface (WEB API) of the server device 10, which allowsfor accessing the server device 10 and is displayed by the control unit101 of the server device 10 executing programs of WEB API stored in thestorage unit 102, and inputting the instruction from the WEB API.

The instruction from the information provider includes at least timeinformation indicating the time to provide the notification information.

The control unit 101 receives the instruction that is input according tothe above-described manner (Step S51).

The setting unit 105 sets the notification time specified by theinstruction received by the control unit 101 (Step S52).

Subsequently, the determination unit 106 refers to the operation historyinformation table 1400 and determines whether any of the appliances wereused within a predetermined period in a day including the specifiednotification time (e.g. from one hour before the notification time toone hour after the notification time), and the selection unit 107selects the appliances used within the period as determined by thedetermination unit 106, and determines them as the appliances to whichthe notification information is to be transmitted (Step S53).

Subsequently, the control unit 101 determines whether the time,determined by the determination unit 106, to transmit the notificationinformation has been reached (Step S54). When determining that the timeto transmit the notification information has not been reached (Step S54:NO), the control unit 101 waits until the time. Meanwhile, whendetermining that the time to transmit has been reached (Step S54: YES),the control unit 101 transmits the notification information to theappliances selected in Step S53 via the communication unit 108 (StepS55). Each appliance having received the notification information fromthe server device 10 provides the users with the notificationinformation via the notification unit 1014.

(Notification Process Based on User Operation Histories)

This process (Step S38 in FIG. 15) is performed when it is determined inStep S33 in FIG. 15 that the notification condition relates to theno-operation period.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart for notification process based on user operationhistories.

The determination unit 106 refers to the operation history informationtable 1400, and retrieves information of histories of user operationsperformed on the appliance relating to the notification condition (StepS60). Specifically, the determination unit 106 retrieves operationhistories for which “Operation” is specified in Type 1440 in theoperation history information table 1400. The determination unit 106classifies the operation histories according to date, and estimates thenon-operation period according to the times at which the appliance wasoperated (Step S61).

Specifically, the determination unit 106 determines the no-operationperiod in the following manner, for example.

First, the determination unit 106 classifies the operation historieswithin a predetermined period (e.g. one week) according to date. Then,the determination unit 106 specifies, for each day, periods during whichthe appliance relating to the notification conditions was operating andperiods during which the appliance was not operating.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating the periods during which the appliancerelating to notification conditions was operating and the periods duringwhich the appliance was not operating. The horizontal axis shows timefrom 0:00 to 24:00 and the vertical axis shows separate days. The shadedportions in the figure represent the periods during which the appliancewas not being operated, and the unshaded portions represent the periodsduring which the appliance was being operated. For example, on the(i+1)^(th) day, the appliance was not being operated from 0:00 to 5:00,8:10 to 18:00 and 21:50 to 24:00. In this way, the detection unit 106first specifies the periods during which the appliance was not beingoperated with respect to each day, and then specifies the common periodsduring which the appliance was not being operated in any of the days.Since it is expected that the user's action pattern is different betweenweekdays and holidays, the present embodiment predicts the no-operationperiods by using the operation histories on weekdays. Suppose that thei^(th) day is Monday and the (i+4)^(th) day is Friday. In the exampleshown in FIG. 19, on each of the i^(th) to (i+4)^(th) days, theappliance was commonly not being operated during the period from 22:00to 5:00 and the period from 9:10 to 18:00.

The determination unit 106 determines that the period from 22:00 to 5:00as a no-operation period 1501 and the period from 9:10 to 18:00 as ano-operation period 1502.

Subsequently, the determination unit 106 monitors the operationinformation of the appliance acquired by the acquisition unit 103, andevery time new information is added to the operation history informationtable 1400, determines whether a predetermined period continuing untilthe current time (e.g. one hour), for which no user operation relatingto the notification condition was performed on the appliance, is withinthe no-operation period (Step S62). In the case of NO in Step S62, thedetermination unit 106 continues the monitoring, and repeats Step S62.

In the case of YES in Step S62, the determination unit 106 determineswhich among “Awakening”, “Going out of home” and “Coming home” thecondition of the notification timing determined by the setting unit 105is (Step S63).

When the notification timing is “Awakening”, the determination unit 106refers to the operation history information table 1400 and determineswhether no user operation has been performed for a predetermined periodwithin the no-operation period, and whether the last operation performedbefore the predetermined period is turning off the light in the bedroom(Step S64). In the case of NO in Step S64, the steps from Step S62 areperformed again.

Meanwhile, in the case of YES in Step S64, the determination unit 106monitors operation information of the appliance acquired by theacquisition unit 103, and every time new information is added to theoperation history information table 1400, determines whether theappliance owned by the user has been operated (Step S65). In the case ofNO in Step S65, the determination unit 106 continues the monitoring, andrepeats Step S65.

In the case of YES in Step S65, the selection unit 107 performsselection of the notification-target appliances (Step S69).

Subsequently, upon completion of Step S69, the control unit 101transmits the notification information to the appliances selected inStep S69, via the communication unit 108 (Step S70).

When the notification timing is “Going out of home”, the determinationunit 106 refers to the operation history information table 1400, anddetermines whether the last operation before the beginning of the perioddetermined as the no-operation period is an operation of powering offall the appliances except for appliances that need to be in theturned-on state all the day (S66).

In the case of NO in Step S66, Step S62 is performed again. Meanwhile,in the case of YES in Step S66, Step S69 and Step S70 are performed inthe same manner as with when the notification timing is “Awakening”.

When the notification timing is “Coming home”, the determination unit106 refers to the operation history information table 1400 anddetermines whether all the appliances except for appliances that need tobe in the turned-on state all the day have been in the turned-off statefrom the beginning of the period determined as the no-operation perioduntil now (Step S67). In the case of NO in Step S67, Step S62 isperformed again. Meanwhile, in the case of YES in Step S62, thedetermination unit 106 monitors operation information of the applianceacquired by the acquisition unit 103, and every time new information isadded to the operation history information table 1400, determineswhether any appliances within the house have been operated (Step S68).When no appliance have been operated (Step S68: NO), the determinationunit 106 continues the monitoring, and repeats Step S68.

Meanwhile, when any appliances within the house have been operated (StepS68: YES), Step S69 and Step S70 are performed in the same manner aswith when the notification timing is “Awakening”, and “Going out ofhome”.

(Selection of Notification-Target Appliances)

Selection of notification-target appliances is performed in Step S23 inFIG. 14, Step S36 in FIG. 15, Step S44 in FIG. 16 and Step S69 in FIG.18.

FIG. 20 is a flowchart for selection of notification-target appliances.

The selection unit 107 specifies, as a candidate for the destinations ofthe notification information, an appliance that satisfies the conditionspecified in Target appliance 1540 of the notification conditioninformation table 1500 from Appliance ID 1250 of the user informationtable 1200 (Step S81). The selection unit 107 acquires the notificationinformation set by the setting unit 105 (Step S82).

Subsequently, the selection unit 107 refers to Notification method 1340of the appliance information table 1300, and specifies the notificationmethod to be used for providing the notification information (Step S83).For example, suppose the case where a TV having an appliance identifier“TV0001” has been specified. If this is the case, the selection unit 107refers to Notification method 1340 of the appliance information table1300 and specifies the notification method “Browser”, “Text”, “Light” or“Sound”.

Subsequently, the selection unit 107 determines whether the appliancecan perform notification of the acquired notification information byusing the specified notification method (Step S84). For example, when“http://example.com” is specified in the acquired notificationinformation, the selection unit 107 determines that the appliance canperform the notification if “Browser” is specified as the notificationmethod. When “Light” is specified in the notification information, theselection unit 107 determines that the appliance can perform thenotification if “Light” is specified as the notification method.

In the case of NO in Step S84, the selection unit 107 converts thenotification information to be in the form that can be provided by thenotification method supported by the appliance (Step S85). For example,when “http://example.com” is specified as the notification informationand the appliance does not support notification by a browser butsupports notification by light, the selection unit 107 converts thenotification information to be in the form that can be provided bylight. When the appliance supports notification by “Text”, the selectionunit 107 retrieves notification texts from the contents of“http://example.com”, and specifies the texts as the notificationinformation. When the appliance supports notification by “Sound”, theselection unit 107 retrieves notification texts from the contents of“http://example.com”, and converts the texts into sound, and specifiesthe sound as the notification information.

Subsequently, the selection unit 107 performs registration of asubstitute notification-target appliance that can provide the originalnotification information in place of the candidate for the destinationof the notification information that has been converted (Step S86).

The details of the substitute notification-target appliance will bedescribed later.

In the case of YES in Step S84 or on completion of Step S86, theselection unit 107 refers to the operation history information table1400 and determines whether the candidate for the destination of thenotification information is currently in operation (Step S87). When thecandidate appliance for the destination of the notification informationis in operation (Step S87: YES), the appliance is determined as thenotification-target information (Step S89). When the appliance is not inoperation (Step S87: NO), a monitoring-target flag indicating that theappliance is to be monitored with respect to the next operation is set(Step S88), and the appliance is then determined as thenotification-target appliance (Step S89).

Subsequently, the selection unit 107 determines whether theabove-described steps have been performed as to every appliancespecified in Step S81 (Step S90). When Steps S82 through S89 have beenperformed as to every specified appliance (Step S90: YES), theprocessing for selection is terminated, and otherwise (Step S90: NO),the steps from Step S82 are performed as to the remaining appliances.

(Registration of Substitute Notification-Target Appliance)

This registration process is performed in case an appliance selected asthe notification-target appliance is not provided with a notificationmethod that is appropriate for notifying the user with the originalinformation. In the registration process, an appliance that can performthe notification of the original information is selected from amongappliances that are owned by the same user as the notification-targetappliances and that have not been specified as the notification-targetappliances, and is registered as a substitute notification-targetappliance. The original notification information is transmitted to thesubstitute notification-target appliance. This process is performed inStep S86 in FIG. 20.

FIG. 21 is a flowchart for registration of a substitutenotification-target appliance.

First, the selection unit 107 refers to the user information table 1200,and specifies an appliance that is not a notification-target appliancefrom among the appliances owned by the user of the notification-targetappliances (Step S101).

Subsequently, the selection unit 107 refers to the appliance informationtable 1300, and determines whether the specified appliance is providedwith a notification method suitable for notification of the originalnotification information (Step S102).

When the specified appliance is provided with a notification methodsuitable for notification of the original notification information (StepS102: YES), the selection unit 107 sets a substitute notification-targetappliance flag to the specified appliance (Step S103) in order toidentify the specified appliance as the substitute notification-targetappliance, and determines the appliance as the notification-targetappliance (Step S104), and proceeds to Step S105.

Meanwhile, when the specified appliance is not provided with anotification method suitable for notification of the originalnotification information (Step S102: NO), the selection unit 107 skipsSteps S103 and S104, and proceeds to Step S105.

The selection unit 107 determines whether the above-described steps havebeen performed as to every appliance specified in Step S101 (Step S105).

The selection unit 107 determines whether the above-described steps havebeen performed as to every appliance specified in Step S101 (Step S105).When Steps S102 through S104 have been performed as to every specifiedappliance (Step S105: YES), the processing for registration isterminated, and otherwise (Step S105: NO) the steps from Step S102 areperformed as to the remaining appliances.

(Notification to Appliance with Monitoring-Target Flag)

Subsequently, the following explains a notification process by which thenotification information is transmitted to the appliance to which themonitoring-target flag has been set in Step S88 in FIG. 20.

The appliance with the monitoring-target flag is an appliance to whichthe server device 10 could not transmit the notification informationbecause it was not in operation when the server device 10 made anattempt to transmit the notification information.

This process is performed for transmitting the notification informationto such an appliance at an appropriate timing.

FIG. 22 is a flowchart for providing notification information to amonitoring-target appliance.

The determination unit 106 determines whether the appliance selected asa notification-target appliance by the selection unit 107 is anappliance with the monitoring-target flag (Step S111). When theappliance is not with the monitoring-target flag (Step S111: NO), thisprocess is terminated.

Meanwhile, when the appliance is with the monitoring-target flag (StepS111: YES), the determination unit 106 refers to the operation historyinformation table 1400, and retrieves operation histories of theappliance with the monitoring-target flag (Step S112).

Subsequently, the determination unit 106 determines whether apredetermined period has elapsed since the monitoring-target flag wasset to the appliance (Step S113). When the predetermined period haselapsed (Step S113: YES), the control unit 101 resets themonitoring-target flag, and excludes this appliance from the monitoringtarget appliances (Step S116). This is because the notificationinformation might lose its value after elapse of time. For example,suppose the case of an advertisement of special offers available for alimited time. Such information does not need to be provided to the userafter the elapse of a predetermined period. Considering this, thepredetermined period is set to the period until the notificationinformation loses its value.

Meanwhile, when the predetermined period has not elapsed (Step S113:NO), the determination unit 106 monitors the operation information ofthe appliance acquired by the acquisition unit 103, and every time newinformation is added to the operation history information, determineswhether the appliance with the monitoring-target flag has been operated(Step S114).

When the appliance with the monitoring-target flag has not been operated(Step S114: NO), the steps from Step S112 are performed again.Meanwhile, when the appliance with the monitoring-target flag has beenoperated (Step S115: YES), the control unit 101 transmits thenotification information to the appliance with the monitoring-targetflag via the communication unit 108 (Step S115). Each appliance havingreceived the notification information from the server device 10 providesthe users with the notification information via the notification unit1014.

Upon completion of the transmission of the notification information, thecontrol unit 101 resets the monitoring-target flag of this appliance,and excludes the appliance from the monitoring target appliances (StepS116).

<1.4 Summary>

As explained above, the information notification system 1 pertaining tothe present embodiment is capable of providing users with notificationinformation at an appropriate timing for each user considering eachuser's action pattern. The information provider can increase theopportunity for each user to see the notification information, withoutsetting the timing of transmitting the notification information to eachuser.

2. Embodiment 2

<2.1 Overview>

An information notification system pertaining to the present embodimentis the same as the information notification system 1 pertaining toEmbodiment 1 in basic configuration. However, an appliance 1003pertaining to the present embodiment has the function of receivingfeedback information from the user and transmitting the information tothe server device 11, in addition to the functions of the appliance 1002pertaining to Embodiment 1. Furthermore, the server device 11 has thefunction of receiving the feedback information transmitted by theappliance 1003, in addition to the functions of the server device 10.Based on the feedback information, the server device 11 timely transmitsnotification information relating to the notification informationtransmitted in the past.

For example, when the notification information is information aboutspecial offers from the BBB supermarket available for a limited time,and the user that has received this notification information submits afeedback showing that the user is interested in this information, theinformation notification system pertaining to the present embodiment iscapable of transmitting the notification information about the specialoffers from the BBB supermarket again when the user comes close to theBBB supermarket.

In the following, the same components as in the information notificationsystem 1 pertaining to Embodiment 1 are labeled using the same referencesigns for simplification of explanation. Note that explanation of thesame components as in Embodiment 1 is omitted, and differences aremainly explained below.

<2.2 Configuration>

(Appliance 1003)

FIG. 23 is a functional block diagram illustrating primary components ofthe appliance 1003.

The appliance 1003 has an input unit 1019 in addition to the componentsof the appliance 1002.

The appliance 1003 is, for example, a portable terminal device. Theportable terminal device has a receiver for a satellite positioningsystem (e.g. global positioning system (GPS)), and has the function oftransmitting the information containing its position, which serves asthe operation histories, to the server device 11 at intervals.

The input unit 1019 includes, for example, an acceleration sensor, andhas the function of receiving the feedback information by determining,based on an output from the acceleration sensor, whether the user hasmoved the appliance 1003 in a predetermined manner when the user isnotified with information by the notification unit 1014 of the appliance1003. The movement in the predetermined manner is, for example, shakingthe appliance 1003 up and down as shown in FIG. 24 a predeterminednumber of times (e.g. three times). The functions of the input unit 1019are realized by the CPU of the appliance 1003 executing the programsstored in the storage unit 1012.

The communication unit 1015 also has the function of notifying theserver device 11 when the input unit 1019 receives the feedbackinformation from the user.

(Server Device 11)

FIG. 25 is a functional block diagram illustrating primary components ofthe server device 11.

The server device 11 includes a feedback information management unit 109in addition to the components of the server device 10.

The acquisition unit 103 additionally has the function of receiving thefeedback information from the appliance 1003 via the communication unit108 and outputting the information to the control unit 101.

The feedback information management unit 109 receives, from the controlunit 101, the feedback information acquired by the acquisition unit 103,and stores the feedback information in association with the transmittednotification information, together with the reception time of thefeedback information. Note that the notification information associatedwith the feedback information is hereinafter referred to as“notification information specified as favorite information”.

The determination unit 106 additionally has the function of performing areminding process based on a notification information table 1101 whenthere is notification information specified as favorite information. Thenotification information table 1101 will be described later. The detailsof the reminding process will be described later.

The functions of the feedback information management unit 109 and thefunctions of the determination unit 106 are realized by the CPU of theserver device 11 executing programs stored in the storage unit 102.

<2.3 Data Structure>

(Notification Information Table 1101)

FIG. 26 illustrates a data structure and example contents of thenotification information table 1101.

The notification information table 1101 contains items of Effective date1180 and Effective period 1185 in addition to the items of notificationinformation table 1100.

Effective date 1180 is an item specifying a condition relating to thedate of transmitting the notification information to the appliances. Forexample, “Monday to Friday” specified in the figure shows that thenotification information is transmitted on Monday to Friday but is nottransmitted on Saturday or Sunday. “25^(th) day of each month” showsthat the notification information is transmitted on the 25^(th) day ofeach month but is not transmitted on the other days.

Effective period 1185 is an item specifying the condition of the timeperiod within a day during which the notification information is to betransmitted. For example, “10:00-19:00” specified in the figure showsthat the notification information can be transmitted within the periodof 10:00 to 19:00, but cannot be transmitted in other periods.

<2.4 Operations>

The server device 11 performs the same notification process as theserver device 10 pertaining to Embodiment 1. In addition, the serverdevice 11 performs the reminding process when receiving a feedback fromthe user in response to the transmitted notification information. Thereminding process can be a reminding process A or a reminding process B.The reminding process A is performed when the condition about thenotification area is specified in Area 1120 of the notificationinformation table 1101, and the reminding process B is performed when nocondition about the notification area is specified.

The following explains the operations for the reminding processperformed by the server device 11.

FIG. 27 is a flowchart for the reminding process performed by the serverdevice 11.

First, the determination unit 106 determines whether any notificationinformation is specified as favorite information (Step S121).Specifically, the determination unit 106 determines whether anynotification information specified as favorite information is stored inthe feedback information management unit 109. If such information isstored in the feedback information management unit 109, thedetermination unit 106 determines that there is notification informationspecified as favorite information. When no notification informationspecified as favorite information is stored in the feedback informationmanagement unit 109 (Step S121: NO), the reminding process isterminated.

Meanwhile, when there is notification information specified as favoriteinformation (Step S121: YES), the setting unit 105 refers to thenotification information table 1101 and specifies the correspondingnotification information. Next, the setting unit 105 determines whetherany condition about the effective date is specified in Effective date1180 of the specified notification information (Step S122). When anyeffective date is specified (Step S122: YES), the setting unit 105determines the specified effective date as the condition for thetransmission of the notification information (Step S123). Otherwise(Step S122: NO), the setting unit 105 does not set any condition aboutthe effective date.

Subsequently, the setting unit 105 determines whether any conditionabout the effective period is specified in Effective period 1185 (StepS124). When any effective period is specified (Step S124: YES), thesetting unit 105 determines the specified effective period as thecondition for the transmission of the notification information (StepS125). Otherwise (Step S124: NO), the setting unit 105 does not set anycondition about the effective period.

Furthermore, the setting unit 105 determines whether any condition aboutthe area is specified in Area 1120 (Step S126).

When any area is specified (Step S126: YES), the setting unit 105determines the specified area as the condition for the transmission ofthe notification information (Step S127).

The determination unit 106 performs the reminding process A according tothe condition set by the setting unit 105 (Step S128).

Meanwhile, when no area is specified (Step S126: NO), the determinationunit 106 determines whether at least one of the condition about theeffective date and the condition about the effective period has been setby the setting unit 105 (Step S129). When neither the condition aboutthe effective date nor the condition about the effective period has beenset (S129: NO), the process is terminated.

Meanwhile, when at least one of the condition about the effective dateand the condition about the effective period has been set (Step S129:YES), the determination unit 106 performs the reminding process B.

(Reminding Process A)

The reminding process A is performed in Step S128 in FIG. 27.

FIG. 28 is a flowchart for the reminding process A.

First, the determination unit 106 determines whether the current datesatisfies the condition about the effective date set by the setting unit105 (Step S131). Specifically, when the condition about the effectivedate is “Monday to Friday” and the current date is Tuesday, thedetermination unit 106 determines that the current date satisfies thecondition about the effective date, and when the current date isSaturday or Sunday, the determination unit 106 determines that thecurrent date does not satisfy the condition about the effective date.Note that when no condition is specified about the effective date, thedetermination unit 106 determines that the condition is satisfied.

In the case of NO in Step S131, the reminding process A is terminated.Meanwhile, in the case of YES in Step S131, the determination unit 106sets the current time as the specified time (Step S132).

Subsequently, the determination unit 106 determines whether thespecified time is within the period specified by the condition about theeffective period (Step S133). Specifically, the determination unit 106determines that the specified time is within the effective period whenthe specified time is later the starting time of the effective periodand earlier than the ending time of the effective period. In the case ofNO in Step S133, the reminding process A is terminated.

In the case of YES in Step S133, the determination unit 106 refers tothe user information table 1200, and specifies the portable terminaldevice owned by the user who has submitted the feedback information. Thedetermination unit 106 acquires the positional information of thespecified portable terminal device (Step S134). Specifically, thedetermination unit 106 refers to the operation history information table1400, and acquires the position recorded as operation histories of theportable terminal device. Then, the determination unit 106 calculatesthe moving distance of the portable terminal device based on the latestposition and the previous position of the portable terminal device (StepS135).

The determination unit 106 determines whether the moving distancecalculated in Step S135 is no less than a predetermined threshold valueDth (e.g. 100 m) and determines whether the current time is later thanthe specified time. When the moving distance is less than the thresholdvalue Dth and when the current time is no later than the specified time(Step S136: NO), the steps from Step S134 are performed again.

In the case of YES in Step S136, the determination unit 106 estimatesthe time Tr required for reaching the area set by the setting unit 105(Step S137). Specifically, the determination unit 106 calculates theminimum distance from the current position to the area, for example.Furthermore, the determination unit 106 calculates the moving speed ofthe portable terminal device from the current position to the area alongthe shortest path, based on the moving distance calculated in Step S135and the time required for moving the distance. The required time Tr isobtained by dividing the minimum distance by the moving speed.

Subsequently, the determination unit 106 determines whether the requiredtime Tr is shorter than a threshold value Tth (e.g. 20 minutes), and anestimated time to arrive at the area obtained by adding the requiredtime Tr to the current time is earlier than the time obtained bysubtracting a threshold TO (e.g. 30 minutes) from the ending time of theeffective period (Step S138).

When determining that the required time Tr is not shorter than thethreshold value Tth, or when the estimated time to arrive at the area isnot earlier than the time obtained by subtracting the threshold TO fromthe ending time of the effective period (Step S138: NO), thedetermination unit adds a predetermined time Ts (e.g. 1 hour) to thecurrent time and sets the time thus obtained to the specified time (StepS139). Then, the steps from Step S133 are performed again.

Meanwhile, in the case of YES in Step S138, the control unit 101transmits the notification information to the portable terminal devicevia the communication unit 108 (Step S140). Upon receiving thenotification information from the server device 10, the portableterminal device notifies the user of the notification information byusing the notification unit 1014.

The above-described steps allow the sever device 10 to transmit thenotification information specified as favorite information again to theuser when the user comes to a certain distance to the area.

(Reminding Process B)

The reminding process B is performed in Step S130 in FIG. 27.

FIG. 29 is a flowchart for the reminding process B.

First, the determination unit 106 determines whether any condition aboutthe effective date has been set by the setting unit 105 (Step S151).When any condition about the effective date has been set (Step S151:YES), the determination unit 106 determines whether the current datesatisfies the condition about the effective date (Step S152). If thecurrent date does not satisfy the condition about the effective date(Step S152: NO), the reminding process B is terminated.

When no condition has been set about the effective date (Step S151: NO)and when the current date satisfies the condition about the effectivedate (Step S152: YES), the determination unit 106 determines whether anycondition about the effective period has been set by the setting unit105 (Step S153).

When no condition about the effective period has been set (Step S153:NO), the determination unit 106 determines whether a predetermined time(e.g. 1 hour) has elapsed since the notification information was storedin the feedback information management unit 109 in association with thefeedback information (Step S157). Specifically, the determination unit106 calculates the elapsed time by comparing the recorded time with thecurrent time. When the predetermined time has not elapsed (Step S157:NO), the control unit 101 waits until the predetermined time haselapsed. When the predetermined time has elapsed (Step S157: YES), thecontrol unit 101 transmits the notification information to the portableterminal device via the communication unit 108 (Step S156).

Meanwhile, when any condition about the effective period has been set(Step S153: YES), the determination unit 106 determines whether thecurrent time is later than the ending time of the effective period (StepS154). When the current time is later than the ending time of theeffective period (Step S154: YES), the reminding process B isterminated. When the current time is not later than the ending time ofthe effective period (Step S154: NO), the determination unit 106determines whether the current time is within the effective period. Thatis, the determination unit 106 determines whether the current time isnot earlier than the starting time of the effective period (Step S155).When the current time is not within the effective period (Step S155:NO), the steps from Step S154 are performed again. Meanwhile, when thecurrent time is within the effective period (Step S155: YES), thecontrol unit 101 transmits the notification information to the portableterminal device via the communication unit 108 (Step S156).

<2.5 Summary>

As explained above, the information notification system pertaining tothe present embodiment allows the user who has received the notificationinformation from the server device 11 to transmit the feedbackinformation to the server device 11 in response to the receivednotification information, and accordingly the server device 11 cantimely transmit the notification information to the user again based onthe feedback information.

<2.6 Modifications>

(1) In the embodiment above, the appliance that notifies the user of thenotification information and the appliance from which the user inputsthe feedback information in response to the notification information arethe same. However, the appliance that notifies the user of thenotification information and the appliance from which the user inputsthe feedback information in response to the notification information arenot necessarily the same. The appliance from which the user inputs thefeedback information may be different from the appliance that notifiesthe user of the notification information insofar as the appliance cantransmit the feedback information in response to the notificationinformation transmitted by the server device 11.

FIG. 30 is a conceptual diagram showing a modified case where theappliance that notifies the user of the notification information and theappliance from which the user inputs the feedback information inresponse to the notification information are different.

The notification information from the server device 11 is displayed asnotification information 11003 on the appliance 1002. Informationshowing that the notification information 11003 has been displayed onthe appliance 1002 is displayed on the appliance 1003 (e.g. a portableterminal device) owned by the user. The user transmits feedbackinformation from the appliance 1003 in order to indicate whether toregister the notification as favorite information. The feedbackinformation from the portable terminal device is transmitted to theserver device 11 via a base station 40.

The appliance 1002 may be provided with a button for registering thenotification information as favorite information, and the user may pressthe button when the notification information is provided to theappliance 1002 and thereby submit the feedback information to the serverdevice 11.

(2) In embodiments above, a portable terminal device is explained as anexample of the appliance of the user from which the user submits thefeedback information. However, the appliance used for submitting thefeedback information is not necessarily a portable terminal device. Anydevice may be used insofar as the device can submit the feedbackinformation to the server device 11 when receiving the notificationinformation from the server device 11. For example, as shown in FIG. 31,the appliance may have the function of transmitting information input bythe user.

FIG. 31 is a functional block diagram illustrating primary components ofan appliance 1004 which is a modified example of an appliance used forsubmitting the feedback information.

The appliance 1004 shown in FIG. 31 includes a control unit 1011, astorage unit 1012, a communication unit 1015 and an input unit 1019.

The control unit 1011 is, for example, a CPU, and has the function ofreceiving information input by the user from the input unit 1019 andcontrolling the communication unit 1015 to transmit the information tothe server device 11.

The storage unit 1012 is, for example, a memory, and has the function ofstoring programs for enabling the functions of the control unit 1011.The functions of the control unit 1011 are realized by the CPU executingthe programs stored in the storage unit 1012.

The input unit 109 has the function of receiving the feedbackinformation input by the user, and outputting the feedback informationto the control unit 1011. The input unit 1019 is, for example, a buttonfor registering the notification information as favorite information,and outputs information indicating that the button has been pressed bythe user, to the control unit 1011. Upon receiving informationindicating that the user has pressed the button, the control unit 1011controls the communication unit 1015 to transmit, as the feedbackinformation, information indicating an instruction to register thenotification information as the favorite information, to the serverdevice 11.

The communication unit 1015 is, for example, an LSI for communications,and has the function of transmitting the feedback information under thecontrol of the control unit 1011.

Note that the appliance for transmitting the feedback information doesnot necessarily transmit the feedback information to the server device11 every time the user inputs the feedback information. For example, theappliance may accumulate the feedback information, and transmit theaccumulated feedback information at once.

FIG. 32 is a functional block diagram illustrating primary components ofthe appliance 1005 that is an example of an appliance for transmittingthe feedback information and is modified to realize the above-describedfunction.

The appliance 1005 has a time management unit 1021 in addition to thecomponents of the appliance 1004.

The time management unit 1021 has the function of storing the feedbackinformation received from the user via the input unit 1019 and the timeat which the feedback information is received in association with eachother.

When detecting that it is possible to communicate with the server device11, the control unit 1011 controls the communication unit 1015 totransmit, to the server device 11, the feedback information stored inthe time management unit 1021 and information about the receiving timeof the feedback information.

With this configuration, even when the feedback information is receivedunder the condition where it is impossible to communicate with theserver device 11, the appliance 1005 can transmit the feedbackinformation to the server device 11 when it becomes possible tocommunicate with the server device 11.

3. Embodiment 3

<3.1 Overview>

An information notification system pertaining to the present embodimentis the same as the information notification system 2 pertaining toEmbodiment 2 in basic configuration. However, a server device 12pertaining to the present embodiment is different from the informationnotification system 2 in that the server device 12 has the function ofreceiving the feedback information transmitted by the appliance 1003 andplacing an order according to the feedback information, in addition tothe functions of the server device 11.

<3.2 Configuration>

FIG. 33 is a functional block diagram illustrating primary components ofthe server device 12.

The server device 12 has basically the same configuration as the serverdevice 11.

The difference is that the server device 12 additionally includes anordering unit 110.

The ordering unit 110 has the function of placing an order wheninformation relating to the order is contained in the feedbackinformation. The functions of the ordering unit 110 are realized by theCPU executing the programs stored in the storage unit 102.

<3.3 Data Structure>

FIG. 34 illustrates a data structure and example contents of thenotification information table 1102.

The notification information table 1102 contains an item Consumablegoods 1190 in addition to the items of notification information table1100.

Consumable goods 1190 is an item specifying the goods that is to be thesubject of the determination on whether the goods are in short supplywhen “at short supply of consumable goods” is specified in Notificationtiming 1160.

In the example shown in FIG. 34, the notification information specifiedin Notification contents 1170 is transmitted when the amount ofdetergent for the laundry machine specified in Appliance type 1130 is nogreater than a predetermined amount.

<3.4 Operations>

The following explains operations of the server device 12 in an examplecase where the conditions shown in the notification information table1100 in FIG. 34 are specified.

FIG. 35 is a conceptual diagram showing a notification process performedwhen the consumable goods are in short supply.

Suppose the case where a laundry machine 1006 can store a certain amountof detergent that is sufficient for doing laundry several times, and hasthe function of transmitting, as the operation history information,information indicating the remaining amount of detergent to the serverdevice 12. The laundry machine 1006 has an indicator 11004 including aLED for supporting the notification by light. When the goods are inshort supply, the indicator 11004 of the laundry machine 1006 is causedto blink, and notification information 11005 is displayed on a TV 1007owned by the same user. The notification information 11005 showsinformation encouraging the user to purchase AAA detergent from ZZZsupermarket. When the user wishes to purchase the AAA detergent for 100Yen, the user selects “YES” and, and otherwise selects “NO”. When theuser selects “YES”, the TV 1007 transmits, as the feedback information,information indicating purchase of the AAA detergent for 100 Yen, to theserver device 12. The server device 12 places the order for thedetergent with ZZZ supermarket according to the feedback information.

FIG. 36 is a flowchart for operations performed by the server device 12when consumable goods are in short supply.

The determination unit 106 of the server device 12 determines whetherthe condition for when the consumable goods are in short supply, whichis specified in Notification timing, is satisfied or not (Step S161).Specifically, the determination unit 106 refers to the operation historyinformation table 1400, and determines whether the amount of remainingdetergent specified in Consumable goods 1190 is no greater than apredetermined amount (e.g. the amount for doing laundry three times).

In the case of NO in Step S161, the determination unit 106 monitors theoperation histories of the laundry machine 1006, and repeats Step S161until the remaining amount is no greater than the predetermined amount.

In the case of YES in Step S161, the determination unit 106 determineswhether the feedback information indicating purchase of the consumablegoods has been received from the user by the acquisition unit 103 viathe communication unit 108 (Step S162). When the feedback informationindicating purchase of the consumable goods has been received (StepS162: YES), the ordering unit 110 transmits information indicating anorder of the consumable goods to the information provider server 30owned by the information provider specified in Name 1110 (Step S163).Note that the method for placing orders may be the same as conventionalmethods adopted for internet shopping.

<3.4 Summary>

The information notification system pertaining to the present embodimentallows for timely transmission of notification information encouragingpurchase of consumable goods in short supply, and therefore the user caninstruct the server device 12 to place an order for the consumable goodsby a simple operation.

4. Modifications

An information notification system using information notification methodpertaining to the present invention has been described above based onembodiments. However, as a matter of course, the system may be modifiedin the following manner, and the present invention is not limited to theinformation notification method shown in embodiments above.

(1) In above-described embodiments, the server device determines thetiming of transmitting the notification information and selects thenotification-target appliances. However, this is merely an example, andthe determination as to the timing of transmitting the notificationinformation and the selection of the notification-target appliances arenot necessarily performed by the server device. It is not necessarilythe server device that performs the determination as to the timing oftransmitting the notification information and the selection of thenotification-target appliances. For example, the GW inside the house,which is connected to the appliance owned by the user, may perform thedetermination and the selection. If this is the case, each GW includescomponents that are equivalent to the determination unit, the selectionunit and the acquisition unit of the server device, and the serverdevice transmits the notification condition information 1500 used forthe determination on the transmission of the notification information tothe GW owned by the target user. The GW determines the timing oftransmitting the notification information and selects thenotification-target appliances according to the notification conditioninformation. Alternatively, these processes may be performed by separatedevices. For example, the determination as to the timing of transmittingthe notification information may be performed by the server device, andthe selection of the notification-target appliances may be performed byeach GW.

(2) In the above-described embodiments, the selection unit 107 selects,as the notification notification-target appliances, all the appliancessatisfying the conditions specified in Target appliance 1540 of theappliance notification condition information table 1500. However, thisis not essential. It suffices if the notification information isefficiently and effectively provided to the users. For example, fromamong the appliances satisfying the conditions specified in Targetappliance 1540, appliances that are frequently used by the user within apredetermined range of the time to transmit the notification information(e.g. from one hour before the time to one hour after the time) may bedetermined with reference to the history information, and thenotification information may be transmitted to the appliances in theorder of the frequency of use. Alternatively, the notificationinformation may be transmitted to appliances that are used morefrequently than a predetermined threshold (e.g. three times a week ormore).

Alternatively, the notification information may be transmitted topreferentially appliances that are capable of providing the notificationinformation without converting it.

(3) In Embodiment 1, the context search is related to an action ofwatching a TV program and the determination is performed on whether thesearch keyword is related to the program. However, this is merely anexample, and the context search is not limited to this example. Thecontext search may be adapted to operations of any devices, insofar asthe context search allows for the detection of the user's operationrelated to the keyword. For example, the determination on whether thekeyword for the search performed on a browser or the like matches thesearch keyword determined by the information provider may be performedbased on the operation histories of the device having the browserfunction.

(4) In the above-described embodiments, an advertisement distributionservice is explained as an example of the service of providinginformation. However, the notification information to be provided is notlimited to advertisements. Any information that the informationproviders wish to provide may be specified as the notificationinformation. For example, the information providers may provide weatherforecast information, traffic information and so on as the notificationinformation. Alternatively, the broadcast schedule of TV programs may bespecified as the notification information.

(5) In the above-described embodiments, the notification information iswritten in HTML. However, this is merely an example, and it is notessential that the notification information is written in HTML. Anyformat and any type of files may be used insofar as the notificationinformation can be specified. For example, the notification informationmay be represented by text data, image data or audio data.Alternatively, any combinations of the above may be adopted.

(6) In Embodiment 2, the input unit has the function of detecting thatthe user inputs the feedback information by shaking the portableterminal device up and down. However, this is merely an example, and theinput unit does not necessarily have such a function. It suffices if theinput unit has the function of enabling the user to input the feedbackinformation. For example, the input unit may be a mechanical button. Ifthis is the case, the user presses the button to show the intention ofregistering the notification information as the favorite information,and the feedback information indicating the intention is transmitted tothe server device. Alternatively, a similar button may be displayed on atouch panel, and the same function may be realized by detecting a touchon the button.

(7) In Embodiment 3, the notification information allowing the user todetermine whether to purchase consumable goods is displayed, and theuser inputs the feedback information in response to the notificationinformation. However, this is merely an example, and it is not essentialthat the notification information allows the user to only determinewhether to purchase consumable goods. For example, the notificationinformation may provide conditions for purchasing the goods, as shown inFIG. 37. When such a configuration is adopted, the server devicetransmits the feedback information to the information provider andallows the information provider to know the trend of the price at whichthe user would like to buy the goods.

Alternatively, notification information providing a coupon relating tothe consumable goods may be displayed instead of the notificationinformation encoring the purchase.

(8) The various notification processes, the process of selecting theappliances, the process of registering the substitutenotification-target appliances, the process performed when consumablegoods are in short supply, and so on described in the embodiments above(FIGS. 13 through 18, 20 through 22, 27 through 29 and 36) may berealized by using control programs that are composed of program codeswritten in machine language or high-level language and that cause theprocessor of the server device and various circuits connected to theprocessor to perform the processes above. The control programs may bestored on a recording medium, or distributed via various communicationchannels. Examples of such a recording medium includes an IC card, ahard disk, an optical disc, a flexible disk, ROM, a flash memory, and soon. The distributed control programs are stored in a memory or the likethat is readable by a processor, and the functions described inembodiments above are realized by the processor executing the controlprograms. Instead of executing the control programs per se, theprocessor may execute compiled programs or use an interpreter.

(9) The information notification method pertaining to the presentinvention may be realized by a computer using computer programs.Computer programs may be transmitted as digital signals.

The prevent invention may be realized as the computer programs or thedigital signals recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such asa flexible disk, a hard disk, a CD-ROM, a MO, a DVD, a DVD-ROM, aDVD-RAM, a BD (Blu-ray Disc™), or a semiconductor memory. The presentinvention may be the computer programs or the digital signals recordedon such a recording medium.

The computer programs or the digital signals pertaining to the presentinvention may be transmitted via networks, of which telecommunicationsnetworks, wire/wireless communications networks, and the Internet arerepresentative, or via data broadcasting.

(10) The above-described Embodiments and Modifications may be combinedwith one another.

4. Supplemental Descriptions

The following further explains the structure of the informationnotification method pertaining to one aspect of the present invention,modifications applicable to the method, and advantageous effects of themethod.

(1) One aspect of the present invention provides an informationnotification method for providing information from a server device to aplurality of devices connected to a network, comprising: a reading stepof reading notification information that is stored in association withinformation indicating a particular action of a user; an acquiring stepof acquiring operation histories of the plurality of devices; anestimating step of estimating, based on operation histories of one ormore devices owned by the user among the plurality of devices, ano-operation period during which the user is unlikely to operate the oneor more devices; a determining step of determining, based on currentoperation state of the one or more devices, whether the particularaction has been performed outside the no-operation period; and atransmitting step of, when outcome of the determining step isaffirmative, transmitting the notification information associated withthe particular action to a destination device among the one or moredevices owned by the user, wherein the destination device, receiving thenotification information, provides the user with the notificationinformation.

According to the stated information notification method, a period duringwhich the user is unlikely to operate the appliances is estimated basedon the operation histories of the appliances, and whether the applianceshave been operated outside the estimated period is determined.Therefore, the stated method allows for timely transmission of thenotification information to each user, without being provided by theinformation provider with detailed settings for each user with respectto conditions for notification.

(2) The information notification may further comprise: a selecting stepof selecting, based on current operation state of the one or moredevices owned by the user, at least one device as the destination deviceof the notification information from among the one or more devices ownedby the user. The operation histories of the one or more devices owned bythe user may contain information indicating a power-on period of each ofthe one or more devices owned by the user, the power-on period of adevice being a period during which the device was in power-on state ineach day. The particular action may be use of at least one particulardevice from among the one or more devices owned by the user. In theestimating step, an action period may be estimated based on theinformation indicating the power-on period, the action period being aperiod during which the user is likely to perform the particular action.In the determining step, the particular action may be determined to havebeen performed within the action period when power status of the atleast one particular device is determined to have been changed withinthe action period. In the transmitting step, the notificationinformation may be transmitted to the at least one device selected asthe destination device in the selecting step when the particular actionis determined to have been performed within the action period.

According to the stated method, a period during which the user is likelyto perform the particular action each day is estimated based on whetherthe at least one device relating to the user's particular action hasbeen powered on or not. Therefore, the stated method allows fordetermination on whether the particular device has been operated in theperiod during which the user is likely to perform the particular action.

(3) In the determining step, the particular action may be determined tohave been performed within the action period when the at least oneparticular device has been switched from power-off state to powered-onstate within the action period, and in the selecting step, the at leastone device switched to power-on state may be selected as the destinationof the notification information.

The stated method allows for transmission of the notificationinformation to particular devices that have been powered on within theestimated period during which the user is likely to perform theparticular action.

(4) In the determining step, the particular action may be determined tohave been performed within the action period when a device among the atleast one particular device is switched from power-on state to power-offstate at any point within the action period and all of the at least oneparticular device has been switched to power-off state at the point. Inthe selecting step, the at least one device switched to power-off statemay be selected as the destination device of the notificationinformation. In the transmitting step, the notification information maybe transmitted to the at least one device selected as the destinationdevice in the selecting step when the at least one device selected asthe destination device is switched to power-on state.

The stated method allows for determination as to whether all theparticular devices are in the power-off state within the period duringwhich the user is likely to operate the devices, and allows fortransmission of the notification information when a device among thedevices that have been in the power-off state is switched to power-onstate. Therefore, the notification information is transmitted to thedevice when, for example, the user returns home.

(5) The one or more devices owned by the user may include a portableinformation terminal device that is not the at least one particulardevice. In the determining step, the particular action may be determinedto have been performed within the action period when a device among theat least one particular device is switched from power-on state topower-off state at any point within the action period and all of the atleast one particular device has been switched to power-off state at thepoint. In the selecting step, the portable information terminal devicemay be selected as the destination device of the notificationinformation. In the transmitting step, the notification information maybe transmitted to the portable information terminal device.

The stated method detects that all the particular devices have beenswitched to power-off state, and upon detection, transmits thenotification information to the portable terminal device belonging tothe user of the particular devices. Therefore, the notificationinformation is transmitted to the portable terminal device of the userwhen, for example, the user goes out of home.

(6) The portable information terminal device may include a positioningunit using a satellite positioning system. The information notificationmethod may further comprise a position acquiring step of sequentiallyacquiring positional information of the portable information terminaldevice from the positioning unit. In the transmitting step, thenotification information may be transmitted to the portable informationterminal device when the portable information terminal device enters apredetermined area from outside thereof.

With the stated method, the notification information is transmitted tothe portable terminal device owned by the user when the user, whilebeing out of home for example, approaches to a specified area.

(7) In the selecting step, one or more devices other than the at leastone particular device may be selected from among the one or more devicesowned by the user, and in the transmitting step, the notificationinformation may be transmitted to, among the one or more devicesselected in the selecting step, a device that is in power-on state.

With the stated method, the notification information is transmitted to adevice in power-on state, other than the particular devices owned by theuser.

(8) The information notification method may further comprise anotification device information reading step of reading notificationdevice information stored in association with the particular action, thenotification device information specifying one or more devices ascandidates for the destination device of the notification information.In the selecting step, a device that is in power-on state may beselected as the destination device of the notification information fromamong the one or more devices specified by the notification deviceinformation.

With the stated method, the notification information is transmitted to adevice that is in power-on state at the time of transmission of thenotification information, from among the predetermined candidates forthe destination device.

(9) The information notification method may further comprise adestination device information reading step of reading destinationdevice information stored in association with the notificationinformation, the destination device information specifying a conditionfor type of the destination device and a condition for a range relatingto the destination device. In the selecting step, the destination devicemay be selected based on the destination device information.

With the stated method, the notification information is transmitted tothe device satisfying the conditions specified in advance by theinformation provider.

(10) The range relating to the destination device may be a time rangespecifying a usage period for which the device has been used. In theselecting step, the usage period of each of the one or more devicesowned by the user may be specified based on the operation histories, anda device that satisfies the condition for the range may be selected asthe destination device.

With the stated method, the notification information is transmitted tothe device satisfying the conditions relating to the usage period of thedevice, specified in advance by the information provider.

(11) The information notification method may further comprise apositional information reading step of reading positional information ofeach of the plurality of devices. The range relating to the destinationdevice may be a positional range of the destination device. In theselecting step, a device that satisfies the condition for the range maybe selected as the destination device from among the one or more devicesowned by the user.

With the stated method, the notification information is transmitted tothe device satisfying the conditions relating to the location of thedevice, specified in advance by the information provider.

(12) At least one of the one or more devices owned by the user may be aninformation search terminal device. The information search terminaldevice may include a keyword input unit receiving a keyword input by theuser. The operation histories of the plurality of devices may containthe keyword. The particular action of the user may be to input aninstruction relating to the keyword into the at least one of the one ormore devices owned by the user. In the determining step, the particularaction may be determined to have been performed when the informationsearch terminal device is determined to have operated according to theinstruction relating to the keyword. In the selecting step, theinformation search terminal device may be selected as the destinationdevice of the notification information.

With the stated structure, notification information relating to thekeyword is transmitted when the user performs a search relating to aparticular keyword.

(13) The one or more devices owned by the user may include a deviceincluding a feedback information input unit receiving feedbackinformation from the user. The information notification method mayfurther comprise: a feedback information acquiring step of acquiring thefeedback information from the device including the feedback informationinput unit; a function information reading step of reading functioninformation used for enabling one of the one or more devices owned bythe user to perform a particular function based on the feedbackinformation; and an instructing step of issuing an instruction to enablethe one of the one or more devices owned by the user to perform theparticular function when the feedback information satisfies apredetermined condition.

The stated method enables the server device to receive the feedbackinformation from the user that has received the notificationinformation, and to timely transmit additional information relating tothe notification information to the user according to the feedbackinformation.

(14) Another aspect of the present invention provides an informationnotification system for providing information from a server device to aplurality of devices connected to a network, the server devicecomprising: a storage unit storing notification information inassociation with information indicating a particular action of a user; areading unit reading the notification information stored in associationwith the information indicating the particular action of the user; anacquisition unit acquiring operation histories of the plurality ofdevices; an estimation unit estimating, based on operation histories ofone or more devices owned by the user among the plurality of devices, ano-operation period during which the user is unlikely to operate the oneor more devices; a determination unit determining, based on currentoperation state of the one or more devices, whether the particularaction has been performed outside the no-operation period; and atransmission unit, when outcome of the determining step is affirmative,transmitting notification information associated with the particularaction to a destination device among the one or more devices owned bythe user, and each of the plurality of devices comprising: a historyinformation transmission unit transmitting operation histories of thedevice to the server device; a receiving unit receiving the notificationinformation from the server device; and a notification unit providingthe user with the notification information.

The stated information notification system estimates a period duringwhich the user is unlikely to operate the appliances, based on theoperation histories of the appliances, and determines whether theappliances have been operated outside the estimated period. Therefore,the server device can timely transmit the notification information toeach user, without detailed settings specified by the informationprovider for each user with respect to conditions for notification, andthe devices that have received the notification information can providethe user with the notification information.

(15) Another aspect of the present invention provides a server devicefor providing information to a plurality of devices connected to anetwork, comprising: a storage unit storing notification information inassociation with information indicating a particular action of a user; areading unit reading the notification information stored in associationwith the information indicating the particular action of the user; anacquisition unit acquiring operation histories of the plurality ofdevices; an estimation unit estimating, based on operation histories ofone or more devices owned by the user among the plurality of devices, ano-operation period during which the user is unlikely to operate the oneor more devices; a determination unit determining, based on currentoperation state of the one or more devices, whether the particularaction has been performed outside the no-operation period; and atransmission unit, when outcome of the determining step is affirmative,transmitting the notification information associated with the particularaction to a destination device among the one or more devices owned bythe user.

The stated server device estimates a period during which the user isunlikely to operate the appliances, based on the operation histories ofthe appliances, and determines whether the appliances have been operatedoutside the estimated period. Therefore, the server device can timelytransmit the notification information to the devices owned by each user,without being provided by the information provider with detailedsettings for each user with respect to conditions for notification.

INDUSTRIAL APPLICABILITY

An information notification method pertaining to the present inventionis applicable to a server device that determines the timing of providingthe user with information, or devices to which the information is to beprovided.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST

-   10, 11, 12: Server device-   20: Network-   30: Information provider server-   101, 1011: Control unit-   102, 1012: Storage unit-   103: Acquisition unit-   104: Target user determination unit-   105: Setting unit-   106: Determination unit-   107: Selection unit-   108, 1015: Communication unit-   109: Feedback information management unit-   110: Ordering unit-   900: Setting information-   1002, 1003, 1004, 1005: Appliance-   1100: Notification information table-   1101: Notification information table-   1102: Notification information table-   1013: Event detection unit-   1014: Notification unit-   1016: Appliance control unit-   1017: Main component-   1018: Main hardware-   1019: Input unit-   1200: User information table-   1300: Appliance information table-   1400: Operation history information table-   1500: Notification condition information table-   2000: Event condition information table

The invention claimed is:
 1. An information notification method by whicha server device notifies a user of a notification content provided by aninformation provider via a device among a plurality of user-registereddevices, used in a system that collects history information of theplurality of user-registered devices, the server device including: acontrol unit; and a database storage storing: a history informationtable in which operation histories of the plurality of user-registereddevices are stored; an information provider table in which settinginformation is registered, the setting information including at leastone notification content that the information provider provides and atleast one notification condition that corresponds one-to-one with thenotification content, the notification condition specifying, by using ageographical area, a device usage period, and a device usage rate, acondition for a target user to whom the notification content isprovided, the notification content including a notification contenttransmitted at a timing at which the target user awakes, a notificationcontent transmitted at a timing at which the target user goes out ofhome, and a notification content transmitted at a timing at which thetarget user comes home; and a notification timing information tableincluding a plurality of items each indicating a type of a notificationtiming in correspondence with an event specifying arrival of anotification timing, an event type, and a target device, the events eachspecifying arrival of a notification timing including an eventspecifying arrival of the timing at which the target user awakes, anevent specifying arrival of the timing at which the target user goes outof home, and an event specifying arrival of the timing at which thetarget user comes home, each of the notification contents created by theinformation provider with use of the notification timing, the eventtype, and the target device, the information notification methodperformed by the server device comprising: an acquiring step ofacquiring operation histories from the user-registered devices andupdating the history information table each day through adding theacquired operation histories to the history information table; a readingstep of reading the setting information from the information providertable; a user specifying step of specifying at least one target userfrom among a plurality of registered users whose user information meetsthe geographical area, the device usage period, and the device usagerate included in the read setting information; an estimating step ofcollecting operation histories of devices, among the user-registereddevices, that are owned by the target user within a classificationperiod of N days from an ith day to an (i+N)th day according to date,specifying, for each day, periods during which the devices owned by thetarget user are operating and not operating, and extracting ano-operation period which is a period between 0:00 and 24:00 in whichnone of the devices owned by the target user is operated on any of Ndays from the ith day to the (i+N)th day; and a transmitting step of,when a new operation history is added to the history information tableand the devices owned by the target user are not operated within aperiod continuing until the current time, corresponding to theno-operation period, transmitting the notification content indicated bythe read setting information to one of the devices owned by the targetuser upon occurrence of the event specifying arrival of the timing atwhich the target user awakes, the event specifying arrival of the timingat which the target user goes out of home, or the event specifyingarrival of the timing at which the target user comes home as indicatedin the notification timing information table, wherein (i) the eventspecifying arrival of the timing at which the target user awakes is atiming after an elapse of the no-operation period since a user operationof turning off a light in a bedroom before the elapse of theno-operation period, (ii) the event specifying arrival of the timing atwhich the target user goes out of home is a timing of a user operationof turning off all the devices except for the devices that are turned onall day, and (iii) the event specifying arrival of the timing at whichthe target user comes home is a timing of a user operation of any devicewithin the home after all the devices except for the devices that areturned on all day are turned off.
 2. The information notification methodof claim 1 further comprising: a selecting step of selecting, based on acurrent operation state of the one or more devices owned by the targetuser, at least one device as a destination device of the notificationcontent from among the one or more devices owned by the target user,wherein in the transmitting step, the notification content istransmitted to the at least one device selected as the destinationdevice in the selecting step.
 3. The information notification method ofclaim 2, wherein in the selecting step, the at least one device switchedfrom a power-off state to a power-on state is selected as thedestination device of the notification content.
 4. The informationnotification method of claim 2, wherein in the selecting step, the atleast one device switched from a power off state to a power-off state isselected as the destination device of the notification content, and inthe transmitting step, the notification content is transmitted to the atleast one device selected as the destination device in the selectingstep when the at least one device selected as the destination device isswitched to the power-on state.
 5. The information notification methodof claim 2, wherein the one or more devices owned by the target userinclude a portable information terminal device, in the selecting step,the portable information terminal device is selected as the destinationdevice of the notification content, and in the transmitting step, thenotification content is transmitted to the portable information terminaldevice.
 6. The information notification method of claim 5, wherein theportable information terminal device includes a positioning unit using asatellite positioning system, the information notification methodfurther comprises: a position acquiring step of sequentially acquiringpositional information of the portable information terminal device fromthe positioning unit; and in the transmitting step, the notificationcontent is transmitted to the portable information terminal device whenthe portable information terminal device enters a predetermined areafrom outside thereof.
 7. The information notification method of claim 2,wherein in the transmitting step, the notification content istransmitted to a device that is in a power-on state.
 8. The informationnotification method of claim 2, wherein the setting information includesnotification device information specifying one or more devices ascandidates for the destination device of the notification content, andin the selecting step, a device that is in a power-on state is selectedas the destination device of the notification content from among the oneor more devices specified by the notification device information.
 9. Theinformation notification method of claim 8 further comprising: adestination device information reading step of reading destinationdevice information stored in association with the notification content,the destination device information specifying a condition for a type ofthe destination device and a condition for a range relating to thedestination device, wherein in the selecting step, the destinationdevice is selected based on the destination device information.
 10. Theinformation notification method of claim 9, wherein the range relatingto the destination device is a time range specifying the device usageperiod for which the device has been used in the notification condition,and in the selecting step, the device usage period of each of the one ormore devices owned by the target user is specified based on theoperation histories, and a device that satisfies the condition for therange is selected as the destination device.
 11. The informationnotification method of claim 9 further comprising: a positionalinformation reading step of reading positional information of each ofthe plurality of user-registered devices, wherein the range relating tothe destination device is a positional range of the destination device,and in the selecting step, a device that satisfies the condition for therange is selected as the destination device from among the one or moredevices owned by the target user.
 12. The information notificationmethod of claim 2, wherein at least one of the one or more devices ownedby the target user is an information search terminal device, theinformation search terminal device includes a keyword input unitreceiving a keyword input by the target user, and in the selecting step,the information search terminal device into which an instructionrelating to the keyword is input is selected as the destination deviceof the notification content.
 13. The information notification method ofclaim 1, wherein the one or more devices owned by the target userinclude a device including a feedback information input unit receivingfeedback information from the target user, the information notificationmethod further comprises: a feedback information acquiring step ofacquiring the feedback information from the device including thefeedback information input unit; a function information reading step ofreading function information used for enabling one of the one or moredevices owned by the target user to perform a particular function basedon the feedback information; and an instructing step of issuing aninstruction to enable the one of the one or more devices owned by thetarget user to perform the particular function when the feedbackinformation satisfies a predetermined condition.
 14. The informationnotification method of claim 1 further comprising: an event processingexecuting step of specifying the event type corresponding to thenotification condition in the read setting information and executingevent processing based on the corresponding event type, wherein theevent type includes execution of function, history information, contextsearch, and specified timing, and the estimating step is performed eventprocessing executed when the event type is history information.
 15. Theinformation notification method of claim 1, wherein the server devicefurther includes a device information table including identificationinformation indicating, for each of the devices, one or morenotification methods supported by the device, the informationnotification method further comprises a target device selecting step ofexecuting a first determination and a second determination to select onefrom the devices owned by the target user as a target device when both aresult of the first determination and a result of the seconddetermination are affirmative, the first determination determines,through referring to the device information table, whether each of thedevices owned by the target user supports a notification method forprovision of the notification content indicated by the read settinginformation, and the second determination determines whether each of thedevices owned by the target user is operating.
 16. The informationnotification method of claim 15, wherein the notification methodincludes notification through a browser, notification through a text,notification through light, and notification through a sound, theinformation notification method further comprises: a method convertingstep of converting the notification content indicated by the readsetting information when the result of the first determination isnegative, conversion executed by the method converting step includesconversion of the notification content into a text and conversion of thenotification content into a sound; and a substitute notification devicedetermining step of extracting devices other than the target device fromamong the devices owned by the target user and determining whether eachof the extracted devices supports the notification method of the readsetting information before conversion; and a substitute notificationdevice setting step of setting, when one of the extracted devicessupports the notification method of the read setting information beforeconversion, the one of the extracted devices as a substitutenotification device.
 17. The information notification method of claim16, further comprising: a monitoring target determining step of, whenthe result of the second determination is negative, determining thetarget device as a monitoring target device which, upon detecting useroperation of the monitoring target device, is caused to notify thetarget user of the notification content indicated by the read settinginformation.
 18. The information notification method of claim 17,further comprising: a feedback evaluating step of determining, when oneof the devices owned by the target user is a portable terminal device,whether any of the notification contents is specified as a favoritenotification content by the target user based on a feedback from theportable terminal device; and a reminding step of executing remindingprocessing when one of the notification contents is specified as afavorite notification content, wherein the reminding processingincludes: (1) determining whether an effective period and an effectivegeographical area are specified to the favorite notification content asthe notification condition; (2) when the effective period and theeffective geographical area are specified, calculating, based on acurrent position and a moving distance of the portable terminal device,a required time required for the portable terminal device to reach theeffective geographical area; and (3) when a time obtained by adding therequired time to the current time is earlier than a time at which theeffective period ends, causing the portable terminal device to notifythe target user of the favorite notification content.
 19. An informationnotification system for providing information from a server device to aplurality of user-registered devices connected to a network, the serverdevice comprising: a first processor; and a first non-transitorycomputer-readable recording medium storing: first executableinstructions; a history information table in which operation historiesof the plurality of user-registered devices are stored; an informationprovider table in which setting information is registered, the settinginformation including at least one notification content that theinformation provider provides and at least one notification conditionthat corresponds one-to-one with the notification content, thenotification condition specifying, by using a geographical area, adevice usage period, and a device usage rate, a condition for a targetuser to whom the notification content is provided, the notificationcontent including a notification content transmitted at a timing atwhich the target user awakes, a notification content transmitted at atiming at which the target user goes out of home, and a notificationcontent transmitted at a timing at which the target user comes home; anda notification timing information table including a plurality of itemseach indicating a type of a notification timing in correspondence withan event specifying arrival of a notification timing, an event type, anda target device, the events each specifying arrival of a notificationtiming including an event specifying arrival of the timing at which thetarget user awakes, an event specifying arrival of the timing at whichthe target user goes out of home, and an event specifying arrival of thetiming at which the target user comes home, each of the notificationcontents created by the information provider with use of thenotification timing, the event type, and the target device, wherein thefirst executable instructions, when executed by the first processor,cause the server device to: acquire operation histories from theuser-registered devices and update the history information table eachday through adding the acquired operation histories to the historyinformation table; read the setting information from the informationprovider table; specify at least one target user from among a pluralityof registered users whose user information meets the geographical area,the device usage period, and the device usage rate included in the readsetting information; collect operation histories of devices, among theuser-registered devices, that are owned by the target user within aclassification period of N days from an ith day to an (i+N)th dayaccording to date, specify, for each day, periods during which thedevices owned by the target user are operating and not operating, andextract a no-operation period which is a period between 0:00 and 24:00in which none of the devices owned by the target user is operated on anyof N days from the ith day to the (i+N)th day; and transmit, when a newoperation history is added to the history information table and thedevices owned by the target user are not operated within a periodcontinuing until the current time, corresponding to the no-operationperiod, the notification content indicated by the read settinginformation to one of the devices owned by the target user uponoccurrence of the event specifying arrival of the timing at which thetarget user awakes, the event specifying arrival of the timing at whichthe target user goes out of home, or the event specifying arrival of thetiming at which the target user comes home as indicated in thenotification timing information table, wherein (i) the event specifyingarrival of the timing at which the target user awakes is a timing afteran elapse of the no-operation period since a user operation of turningoff a light in a bedroom before the elapse of the no-operation period,(ii) the event specifying arrival of the timing at which the target usergoes out of home is a timing of a user operation of turning off all thedevices except for the devices that are turned on all day, and (iii) theevent specifying arrival of the timing at which the target user comeshome is a timing of a user operation of any device within the home afterall the devices except for the devices that are turned on all day areturned off.
 20. A server device for providing information to a pluralityof user-registered devices connected to a network, comprising: aprocessor; and a non-transitory computer-readable recording mediumstoring: executable instructions; a history information table in whichoperation histories of the plurality of user-registered devices arestored; an information provider table in which setting information isregistered, the setting information including at least one notificationcontent that the information provider provides and at least onenotification condition that corresponds one-to-one with the notificationcontent, the notification condition specifying, by using a geographicalarea, a device usage period, and a device usage rate, a condition for atarget user to whom the notification content is provided, thenotification content including a notification content transmitted at atiming at which the target user awakes, a notification contenttransmitted at a timing at which the target user goes out of home, and anotification content transmitted at a timing at which the target usercomes home; and a notification timing information table including aplurality of items each indicating a type of a notification timing incorrespondence with an event specifying arrival of a notificationtiming, an event type, and a target device, the events each specifyingarrival of a notification timing including an event specifying arrivalof the timing at which the target user awakes, an event specifyingarrival of the timing at which the target user goes out of home, and anevent specifying arrival of the timing at which the target user comeshome, each of the notification contents created by the informationprovider with use of the notification timing, the event type, and thetarget device, wherein when executed by the processor, cause the serverdevice to: acquire operation histories from the user-registered devicesand update the history information table each day through adding theacquired operation histories to the history information table; read thesetting information from the information provider table; specify atleast one target user from among a plurality of registered users whoseuser information meets the geographical area, the device usage period,and the device usage rate included in the read setting information;collect operation histories of devices, among the user-registereddevices, that are owned by the target user within a classificationperiod of N days from an ith day to an (i+N)th day according to date,specify, for each day, periods during which the devices owned by thetarget user are operating and not operating, and extract a no-operationperiod which is a period between 0:00 and 24:00 in which none of thedevices owned by the target user is operated on any of N days from theith day to the (i+N)th day; and transmit, when a new operation historyis added to the history information table and the devices owned by thetarget user are not operated within a period continuing until thecurrent time, corresponding to the no-operation period, the notificationcontent indicated by the read setting information to one of the devicesowned by the target user upon occurrence of the event specifying arrivalof the timing at which the target user awakes, the event specifyingarrival of the timing at which the target user goes out of home, or theevent specifying arrival of the timing at which the target user comeshome as indicated in the notification timing information table, wherein(i) the event specifying arrival of the timing at which the target userawakes is a timing after an elapse of the no-operation period since auser operation of turning off a light in a bedroom before the elapse ofthe no-operation period, (ii) the event specifying arrival of the timingat which the target user goes out of home is a timing of a useroperation of turning off all the devices except for the devices that areturned on all day, and (iii) the event specifying arrival of the timingat which the target user comes home is a timing of a user operation ofany device within the home after all the devices except for the devicesthat are turned on all day are turned off.